GivinUp Trilogy:Givin' Up
by Pure Mudblood
Summary: Finished! First of the Givin Up Trilogy Forgotten,Abused,Cold and Lost. Brought together by differences,Six they are,Wont tell the truth,But at what cost. PG13 for Language
1. Chapter 1

Givin' Up  
  
By Pure Mudblood  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters only the storyline and any of the story that I borrowed I will give them credit in that chapter at the end or the disclaimers in the following chapters. Enjoy and be as honest as possible in reviews without being downright mean.  
  
Chapter 1 The Train Ride and the New Hermione  
  
"Ron, Harry!!!" Hermione Granger screeched as she saw her 2 best friends running across Platform 9 3/4.  
  
She couldn't believe how much the two had changed over the summer. Harry had on a tight red shirt, that showed off his well defined muscles (' obviously Quidditch has done him some good' Hermione thought) and big baggy jeans. He was about 6'3"-6'4" and his black hair was an inch or so longer and unruly as ever. Ron had on an orange shirt that showed off his nicely defined biceps and baggy black jeans. He was a good 6'6" and his flaming red hair was cut off to about 1 ½" long.  
  
"You guys have changed so much!" she said while hugging Ron.  
  
"So have you, 'Mia" Harry exclaimed, as he bent to hug her when she let go of Ron.  
  
"Yeah, I guess have compared to when you guys last saw me."  
  
And she had. Her old self was a little bit more girly then this. When she used to wear hip huggers and things like tight shirts and halter-tops, she had now gone punk, depending on how you looked at it. She was in a loose fitting black t-shirt, really baggy black jeans and her favorite big lack hoodie with a green serpent on the front. She had spent the summer with some friends from NYC and they had influenced her taste quite a bit.  
  
"Come on guys lets go get our compartment before they all get taken" she said to them.  
  
When they found their compartment, they sat down and started to tell each other about their summers. Harry had stayed with Ron for the whole summer, and they had gone and visited Charlie in Romania for 2 weeks. Right when Hermione was in the middle of her story the compartment door opened.  
  
"Well, if it isn't Potty, the Weasel and Granger"  
  
"What the hell do you want ferret boy?" Hermione sneered.  
  
"Well, actually, I was looking for you Granger," he said as he turned to look at her for the first time, seeing as he'd been having a glaring match with Ron and Harry. "Granger, is that really you?" he said, as he took a double take.  
  
"Yes Malfoy I believe it is. Why, do you not like the new look?" she asked.  
  
"Like I care. I just thought it odd that you were wearing a hoodie with the Slytherin symbol and color on it"  
  
"Yeah, actually I was wondering why you had a green snake on your shirt, Mia. Did you become a fan of Slytherin or something?" Harry asked curiously.  
  
"Of course not Harry. I got this from one of my best muggle friends when they came out from NYC. It's my favorite hoodie and I couldn't care less what the symbol was," she then turned to Malfoy. "You said you were here looking for me, why?"  
  
"Oh yeah, I was told to come and tell you that your supposed to be up in the Head compartment, seeing as your Head Girl and.."  
  
"Mia your Head Girl?" Ron and Harry both exclaimed at the same time, while cutting Malfoy off.  
  
"Yes I am. Did you expect someone else to be?"  
  
"Well, honestly no but we thought you would have told us being your BEST friends and all!" Ron exclaimed.  
  
"Well, I'm sorry," she replied sarcastically. " I didn't think you 2 would really care. Anyway" she said turning her attention again to Malfoy, " finish what you were saying"  
  
"There's a prefect and head meeting that you have to be at in 10 minutes, in the Heads compartment"  
  
"Ok, I'll be right there." With that Malfoy turned and walked out.  
  
"I'll talk to you guys later, k?" she said as she started out of the compartment to go to the meeting"  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2  
  
The Meeting, Arrival to Hogwarts and Dorms  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters only the storyline and any of the story that I borrowed I will give them credit in that chapter at the end or the disclaimers in the following chapters. Enjoy and be as honest as possible in reviews without being downright mean.  
  
~*~*~*~Hermione's POV~*~*~*~  
  
"Ok so how about we meet tomorrow night to discuss the plans for the Halloween ball and decide what other events we want to hold this year, is that okay with everyone?" Hermione asked.  
  
There was a chorus of yeas from the Prefects and Malfoy. The Prefects this year were Justin Flinch-Fletchy (sp?), for Hufflepuff, Padma Patil for Ravenclaw, Blaise Zambini for Slytherin, and the only 6th year, Ginny Weasley for Gryffindor.  
  
"Ok, well Malfoy and I will tell you when and where sometime tomorrow."  
  
" Great way of handling them in there Granger." Malfoy commented before heading out " Is it going to be this way all year or will I actually get to do work?"  
  
Hermione stood there looking at his back for a good 2-3 minutes before Ginny came running up to her and threw her arms around her  
  
"OMG! Mia, I've missed you so much! By the way you look awesome!"  
  
"Thanks Gin, I missed you to and I must say you don't look so bad yourself!" Hermione said to the girl as she let go of the death-grip hug and surveyed how much she'd changed over the summer. The red-Weasley hair was cut to shoulder length and looked as if it had been both layered and thinned out. She also looked like she had filled out and was black hip- huggers and a baby-blue shirt that had pink lips with the words 'Kiss Me' on the front. " Come back to my compartment with me. I don't think I can handle any more Quidditch talk between Harry and Ron."  
  
"Sure, they're Quidditch talk is quite boring after a while so I'll come save you with some civilized conversation!"  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
They talked for the rest of the trip then Parvati and Lavender came in and kicked the boys out to Deans and Seamus's compartment so that they could change for Hogwarts.  
  
When they arrived at Hogwarts, Hermione told her friends that she would meet them in the Great Hall, as she had to ride in the Heads coach with Malfoy. Upon entering the head coach she saw that Malfoy was already there looking out the window. When he heard me enter he turned to face her with his icy blue gaze, that looked like it held so many emotions that it couldn't show any of them (A/N: confusing, yes but it makes sense it really does). She looked up and met his gaze.  
  
~*~*~*~Draco POV~*~*~*~  
  
.she looked up and met his gaze with her pools of chocolate brown. They were the most beautiful things he had seen even if it was on the mudblood. As he looked her up and down he realized that she had done more maturing than what he'd seen on the train.  
  
Draco had matured much over the summer, as well. His hair was no longer sleeked back but hung loosely and his muscles had become more defined from 6yrs of Quidditch and a great amount of working out he had done over the summer. His facial features had become more defined and his voice a bit deeper.  
  
Granger held is gaze for a good while before looking him over, causing Draco to smirk.  
  
"You like what you see Granger?"  
  
"You wish Malfoy but I hate to break it to you, your not as hot as you think!" she retorted but when Draco looked into her eyes again they betrayed what she just said, causing to again smirk.  
  
He jumped out of the carriage as it had stopped and turned to see Hermione getting up. "You know," he started, " you should really learn to hide your emotions better, even though it would make it less fun to torture you, because your eyes show everything your thinking." With that said he turned on his heel and went to find Crabbe and Goyle.  
  
~*~*~*~Hermione's POV~*~*~*~  
  
Hermione found herself staring after him for the second time that day trying to figure out what the hell he had meant. Was it supposed to be meant as a compliment or an insult?  
  
After jumping out of the carriage with this question she walked right into Ron causing her to fall over.  
  
"Hey Mia, are you okay?" he asked while offering her a hand up.  
  
"Yeah, I was just thinking and not paying attention to where I was going. Sorry for running into you."  
  
"Oh, that's fine, we were just looking for you"  
  
"Umm.we?"  
  
"Yeah Ginny and Harry are just a little behind incase I missed you."  
  
"Oh, ok"  
  
"Look there they are" Ron said pointing just behind them just a little to the left.  
  
They met up and walked into the Great Hall together. They watched the Sorting, cheering extra loud when someone got sorted into Gryffindor. Then Dumbledore stood up to give his speech and the hall went instantly quiet.  
  
"Welcome everyone! Some of you to your final year here and others to your first of 7 wonderful years here. I would just like to say that as always the Forbidden Forest is, of course, forbidden. You may check in our caretaker, Filches, (A/N: I cant remember how he's referred to, is it professor, Mr. or what?, please someone include in your review if I'm wrong), office for a list of everything forbidden at Hogwarts. I would like to present this years Prefects Justin Flinch-Fletchy for Hufflepuff, Padma Patil for Ravenclaw, Blaise Zambini for Slytherin, and Ginny Weasley for Gryffindor. As well as this years Head boy Draco Malfoy of Slytherin and Head Girl Hermione Granger of Gryffindor. Please I would like to see all the Prefects after they lead their first years to their houses and the Heads after the Feast. Now without further ado, tuck in."  
  
There was an uproar of applause then everything went back to chatter as everyone dug into the food. After dessert Hermione said goodnight to Harry, Ron and Ginny then went up to meet Malfoy and Dumbledore at the Head table.  
  
"We are just waiting for the Prefects to return then I shall show you to your dorms," Dumbledore explained to them.  
  
"Yes Professor" they answered together.  
  
When the prefects arrived, Dumbledore lead them around corners, down corridors, and a couple flights of stairs. He stopped in front of a portrait of a portrait of a mountain range with a family of deer grazing.  
  
"Prefects, these will be your dorms. Please choose a password that you all agree on."  
  
"How 'bout.everlasting life in death" Justin suggested.  
  
There was a chorus of yes's and Dumbledore turned to the portrait and repeated the password and the door swung open.  
  
"Now there are 5 doors off the common room. There is a room for each of you with your names and there's a portrait in each room and you ca chose a password and the portrait will lead you to your house common room. The fifth is the Prefect bathroom and it also has another portrait that is double sided and you can get in from either side to use it. Now get settled in and all your stuff is in your rooms already. Goodnight. Hermione, Draco please follow me."  
  
"Good night" everyone chorused as they all went their own ways.  
  
Dumbledore led Hermione and Draco further down the corridor to a portrait of a boy and a girl in green and red standing the middle of a field smiling at the 3 as they approached.  
  
"Hermione, Draco I would like you to meet Steven and Anca (A/N: pronounced On-ca) the first Head boy and girl. Steven and Anca may I introduce Draco Malfoy and Hermione Granger, this years Head Boy and Girl."  
  
"Pleasure" Steven and Anca said to the two.  
  
"Pleased to meet you" Hermione said to them.  
  
"Pleasure it is to meet you" Draco said, nodding to them.  
  
"Please choose your password and just tell them. In your room there is a portrait each leading to your common rooms just tell the guard your password and you can get through. Now, I must be on my way. Goodnight all and I'll see you all tomorrow."  
  
" 'Night professor," they all said to his retreating back.  
  
"Granger, any ideas for our password?"  
  
"How 'bout 'serpents lioness'?"  
  
"Yea that sounds good. He turned the figures in the portrait. "You got that? It's serpents lioness"  
  
"OK! Night"  
  
The portrait swung open and Hermione gasped as she looked around. There was a huge fire in the fireplace and in front of it there was a huge green and a huge red armchair, as well as 2 couches both green and red. Off the common room there were 2 spiraling staircases that lead to 3 doors. There was a gold plate on each door with one of their names or bathroom written on it.  
  
When Hermione opened the door to the bathroom she saw it was painted in red and green with gold and silver taps and finishes. She heard someone breathing behind her and saw Malfoy standing there looking at the bathroom.  
  
She turned to her room and when she opened the door she found it was elegantly done in reds and golds. She had a desk, dresser and closest which doors were all done in a cherry wood. She turned a little and saw Malfoy walk into his room.  
  
Being in a good mood she turned completely and said "Good night Malfoy, I shall see you in the morning." She thought she saw his step falter and knew that he had heard, and for a brief moment and wondered if he was going to turn and say goodnight but then he just kept going into his room and shutting the door.  
  
~*~*~*~Steven and Anca's POV~*~*~*~  
  
"Does that password sound at all familiar?" Anca said turning to Steven.  
  
"Yes it does. That is after all the password you picked my dear Gryffindor."  
  
"I know, my sly Slytherin, I know," she said to him with a knowing smile." And look where we are now"  
  
Steven pulled Anca into a tight embrace just as Hermione and Draco were both drifting ff to sleep thinking about how much the other had changed. 


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3  
  
Thoughts, Summers and Flashbacks  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters only the storyline and any of the story that I borrowed I will give them credit in that chapter at the end or the disclaimers in the following chapters. Enjoy and be as honest as possible in reviews without being downright mean.  
  
~*~*~*~Draco POV~*~*~*~  
  
Draco took off his robe and tossed it off to the side when he walked into his room. Then he walked over to his dresser and grabbed a pair of green silk boxers out the bottom drawer. He then took off his pants and slipped into his boxers. He removed his shirt last and looked down to see a white scar running diagonally across his stomach and was thrown into the memory of how he had gotten it.  
  
~*~*~FLASHBACK~*~*~  
  
Draco looked up at his "father" and couldn't understand what was wrong with the man. He had fire in his eyes and you wouldn't know that this was the same man who had told his son stories while tucking him in to sleep at night.  
  
This is not saying that Lucious had been at all like that since Draco was about 5. Oh no, Lucious had been a loving caring husband until trying to figure out how to resurrect the Dark Lord had taken over his life. He had been beating his wife since Draco was 5 and beating Draco since he was 7. Crucio was commonly used when Lucious was teaching his son how to deal with pain. He finally decided just to put his wife under the Imperius so that all his energy was spent on Draco and the Dark Lord.  
  
"You will serve the Dark Lord if it's the last thing I do!" Lucious roared at his 16 year old son (A/N: this is summer before 6thyear). "You'll receive the Dark Mark on your 18 birthday or I'll kill you myself!"  
  
(A/N: The following are mainly ideas from my bests Friends Eva/Stormy Angel Sky and Jacquie/rebel-yell)  
  
Draco "Fine then! Kill me you twisted bastard! I hate your bloody guts! Rot in hell, and bring the 'Dark Lord' with you! No, wait, leave him here so I can kill him myself or help Potter do it!"  
  
The rage flared in Lucious' eyes again. He pushed Draco away from him then threw the knife he'd had in his belt, at him. It was expertly thrown at his heart and Draco turned just in time for his worst injury was having his stomach badly sliced.  
  
Draco fell to his knees in pain. His 'father' took advantage of his sons disadvantage and slapped him across the face with such force that it sent Draco falling to the floor so that he was completely sprawled out.  
  
Lucious continued kicking his son with his steel-toed boots. When he was satisfied, he turned on his heal and left Draco lying on the dungeon floor about an inch from death. Draco watched his father leave then blacked out. ~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
About 2 hours later, Narcissa found her son lying on the dungeon floor dangerously close to death. She called upon many house elves and had them take Draco up to his room. She had another 2 call a medi-witch so that she could look over how badly Draco was hurt.  
  
It turned out he had a small crack in his skull, 3 broken ribs, as well as 5 cracked ones. Along with the major injuries there was many cuts and bruises all over his body. The cut was able to be healed, however it looked as if it had been made with a blade with magic imbedded in it, a scar, about 7 inches long was left.  
  
When Draco came to he could barley move. While every thing had been healed his muscles still ached and he was stuck in bed until the week before school started. His mother took wonderful care of him and got him everything he needed or wanted.  
  
~*~*~End of Flashback~*~*~  
  
Draco brought his hand back from where it had been tracing his scar and pushed the horrible memory away. He didn't need to think about that right now.  
  
Ever since that night he had learned that most of what he had been taught was a complete lie. Muggles and muggle-borns were not horrible but were just as much human as the rest. Muggle-borns deserved to be witches and wizards as much as purebloods and some deserved it more.  
  
Some like the mud.like Granger. She was as much a witch as he was a wizard. However when he was around her, Malfoy took over Draco and he would torment her to no end. He never understood this though, so he just put it all to she just made him mad or it might've been her friends Potty and Weasel, who no matter what, Draco would always hate. He, however, leaned more towards the latter of the 2 because he was able to keep cool-most of the time-- when it was only her and always lost it when she was with her friends.  
  
He walked over to his bed and got under the green comforter and silver silk sheets. He couldn't help but think that he liked the new Granger. He liked her new attitude, like how she was more assertive and didn't hide behind her bodyguards (as he liked to think of them) for protection. He had noticed as well that while still warm, her chocolate brown eyes had become harder and colder then before. She still showed her emotions through her eyes but it was harder to read and sometimes impossible.  
  
Also the more punk-ish her was way better the old girly girl she used to be. The hoodie had to be his favorite today, though. He also found it quite ironic that he had the same one.  
  
He was sure something had happened to cause this major change over the summer but he wasn't sure what and he wasn't sure if he was yet prepared to find out.  
  
He finally drifted off into a dreamless sleep with these thoughts floating around in his head.  
  
~*~*~*~Hermione's POV~*~*~*~  
  
Hermione slipped into her black PJ pants and an over sized white t- shirt. While yes some of her change was attributed to her cousins most of it was due to the fact that her mom had died and her father decided that it was all Hermione's fault.  
  
Her mother had died in a car accident while on her way to pick Hermione up from the movie theater with her friends. The van in front of her lost control and she swerved to get out of the way but ended up smacking the driver's side of the vehicle into a tree. She died before she even got to the hospital.  
  
He had started regularly abusing her both mentally and physically. She had created a wall around her heart after the first few beatings, refusing to let her "father" know how much he hurt her. She took refuge in her room or went out at night partying or would take her 2yr old sister to the park. Her father would never hurt her when Adianna (Adi for short) was in the room so she tried to keep Adi in around her as much as possible.  
  
However, she sometimes let down that wall, like today when she was around her friends again. She had left her guard down around Malfoy as well (just hadn't realized it at the time), and was now mentally slapping herself because he had seen a weakness in her. A weakness that she wanted to be rid of. She didn't want to have any weaknesses whatsoever and her greatest one had been shown to her biggest enemy.  
  
However, all he had done was given what she liked to think of as advice. He had told her not to show her emotions. She had greatly appreciated this because she had realized she had let her wall down.  
  
She looked down at her arms and legs to see that they were covered pretty well with bruises. Some new ones, some old ones. Some brown, some olive green, some almost black and some purple and blue ones. Most were the result of the beatings she had received during her last week at home.  
  
She pushed these dreaded thoughts away as she eased under her red quilt with elegant embroidering in gold and gold satin sheets. Though this was not her style she found the bed and colors comforting.  
  
She began to think of the person who was in the other bedroom. She couldn't help but notice that while he was still an insufferable prick when she was around her friends he seemed somewhat civil when he was only around her.  
  
Also she thought that his new hair looked extremely sexy, like he had just gotten out of the shower. She also thought that the all black clothing was an excellent choice. His eyes, she had noticed, that while they were still hard and cold, they seemed to have grown softer over the last couple of years. She had no idea how this had happened but in truth she really didn't want to know.  
  
She made up the decision she had been toying with since she found out who Head Boy was. She decided that she would try and call a truce with Malfoy. She knew that this would angry Ron and Harry but she didn't care. Anyway, her argument was a good one; she had to work with him for at least 9monthes this year, 10 if they both stayed for holidays. But she also decided that she would only ask once and if he said no then things would go on as normal.  
  
She finally drifted off with these thoughts, into a sleep filled with her fathers angry face, a picture of her mother lying in a coffin as well as a picture of Adi smiling with her pearly whites up at her big sister, 'Mina as she called her.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Hey all, I hope you enjoyed. Now this may be confusing and if it is let me know and I'll edit it and repost it.  
  
Celestial Dreams: Hey thanks for being the FIRST review and I promise I'll read and review some of your work tomorrow as it's like midnight and I would like to work on Chapter 4 a bit before I go to bed. Thanks for the praise and I promise I'll try for longer chapters!  
  
Rebel-yell: Gee, I Luv you too Jacq. If I didn't know better I would think you didn't like the story ^_^. But the ending was better! I look forward to future criticism on your part (j/k). Thanks for the help with this chapter and ideas for the future ones.  
  
Also big thanks goes out to Eva/ Stormy Angel Sky for all the help she provided for this chapter and the ideas for future chapters.  
  
|Reviewer |Date |Chapter |Type | |rebel-yell |2003-07-08 |1 |Signed | |MAN! THAT IS ONE FINE EXAMPLE OF A HORRENDOUS STORY! NEVER, I REPEAT| |NEVER, WRITE AGAIN! | |Just kidding! | |Your doing great kiddo! Keep it up! | |LOLFAA, | |Jâcq | |CelestialDreams |2003-07-07 |1 |Signed | |Hi- I feel very privledged to be the fist to review this story- it | |really sounds nice so far, but I wish the chapper had been longer. | |Oh well! Hey would you mind reading my story (any of them really!) | |called Never did run smoothly. Good work keep it up! | 


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4  
  
Hermione, The Shower and She Got Away With It!  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters only the storyline and any of the story that I borrowed I will give them credit in that chapter at the end or the disclaimers in the following chapters. Enjoy and be as honest as possible in reviews without being downright mean.  
  
~*~*~*~Draco's POV~*~*~*~  
  
He rolled over in bed and groaned when he heard his alarm clock ringing (a wizarding one). He had only gotten about 4hrs sleep before the sound of something at his window. Apparently his mother thought that she should send him his DADA book that he had left at home. Only problem was she decided to send it so that it would arrive at 4am.  
  
After he had sent the owl away he went and crawled back into bed to try to sleep more, but no such luck. He ended up lying there until 6 when he finally drifted off to sleep again. The next thing to wake him was the incessant ringing of his alarm clock at 8.  
  
He groaned again remembering that it was a Sunday and there was no need to get up early. When he tried to fall back asleep again, but found it was no use. He was up for the rest of the day.  
  
He decided to go take a shower before going down to the Great hall to have breakfast (A/N: breakfast it from 8-10 on weekends and 7-9 on weekdays). He tried the door to the bathroom and found that it was unlocked. Decided this meant it was deserted, he walked in. He got a major shock once in there though.  
  
Granger was just stepping out of the shower. He stood there in complete shock, but couldn't help but notice what a great figure she had, (A/N: I know what your think, Don't worry she already had a towel wrapped around her).  
  
She turned around and let a very high-pitched scream. "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING IN HERE MALFOY? DIDN'T YOU EVER HEAR OF KNOCKING?"  
  
"Ever heard of locking a door? How the hell was I supposed to know you were in here? I had no clue you were in here Granger and I had absolutely no way of knowing!! So don't go blaming your forgetfulness on me!"  
  
"Gee, I'm sorry. But incase you haven't noticed, your not the one standing here almost completely naked! I don't have the time to play who's fault was it? With you right now. So would please be nice to me for once and get your sorry ass the hell out of here now!!!!!"  
  
"Granger, A) this is not my fault, B) I did notice and C) why don't you get out of here? You've already taken your shower and I need to take mine so I can get to the Great Hall before breakfast is over. So why don't YOU do ME a favor and move your ass out of here!"  
  
"I was in here first Malfoy! If you want in that bad your going to have to wait for 10 minutes so I can get dressed and do my hair! Yes Malfoy", she said with a smirk at the surprised look that had appeared on his face after she had said how long he had to wait, " I, unlike most females, only take 10 minutes to get ready in the morning, 12 if I leave my hair down!"  
  
"Fine~ I'll wait 10 minutes but I'll walk right back in here if it takes even one second longer!"  
  
"Do you really want to see me naked that bad Malfoy?" she again smirked at his uneasiness.  
  
"Don't flatter yourself Granger! I would never think of seeing some of your class naked!"  
  
"Yea, right! Just get out now Malfoy or you'll miss your breakfast!"  
  
Draco glared at her one last time then looked down a little and noticed the bruises on her arms. He looked back up and saw fire in her eyes and decided that it would probably be best to leave now.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
When Granger was finally finished, Draco went in to take his shower. He let the warm water run against his muscles. It felt oddly relaxing, considering his muscles weren't even tense.  
  
His thoughts turned to the bruises that Granger had on her arms. 'They look like the result of a fight.or a beating' he cringed slightly at this thought. 'Wait, am I caring for Granger?' his Malfoy half thought. 'Yes but what does it matter? I mean No one needs that. I mean yes that would explain her change and I wanted to know why but still.'. 'Still what? You were NOT raised to care in any way for mudbloods'. 'I, Draco, no longer consider her a mudblood! She deserves to be a witch more that most purebloods do!' 'SHUT UP both of you!'  
  
Finally the voices shut up. He climbed out of the shower and grabbed a towel to dry himself off. He then grabbed the fresh pair of boxers he had brought with him and put them on. He put the towel around his shoulders and walked out.  
  
He was surprised to find that Granger was still in the common room. He looked at her and couldn't help but think that she looked really pretty (A/N: cheesy yes but what can I say?). She looked up and met his eyes. They were cold as stones and they greatly surprised him. The only other people, that he knew, with eyes this cold and hard, were his father and himself.  
  
This factor also kind of scarred him. She must have been through some serious shit in order for her to go this cold. Yes he had realized she was cold just not that cold!  
  
He broke the stare and turned abruptly into his room slamming the door behind him.  
  
~*~*~*~Hermione's POV~*~*~*~  
  
She looked up to see Malfoy had exited the bathroom. She was still a little upset about him walking in on her but she had decided that it was not all his fault. She HAD been the one to leave the door unlocked. Anyway, a fight wasn't a good start to the year and probably not the best thing if she wanted to call a truce.  
  
She met his cold gaze with an equally cold one. She started to see a few different things flicker through his eyes. Mostly sleepiness but she noticed that the longer he stared, things like surprise then fear flickered through them.  
  
He suddenly broke their stair and entered his bedroom, slamming his door behind him. 'OK, I wonder what brought that on' Hermione wondered. Why was the o' so evil Draco Malfoy showing fear when he looked at her? Not that she really cared that much, she was just curious.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
She was still sitting in the exact same spot when Malfoy exited his room again.  
  
"Hey Malfoy! You know the Prefect/Head meeting today?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"How 'bout we have it right after classes today in the Prefect common-room? You tell Zambini and Padma and I'll tell Ginny and Justin, ok?". "Good" she said not even waiting for his answer. "Oh one more thing, I say we call a truce, no more nasty names and we try to get along. However, this does not mean that we have to be friends. We would still call eachother Granger and Malfoy and if we need to fight it can be done when we're in here. We just need to set an example for younger students. Deal?"  
  
She looked at Malfoy as he nodded, totally lost for words.  
  
"Good. I'll see you later Malfoy and please remember to tell them."  
  
With that she walked out of the room and headed to breakfast, leaving Malfoy there still looking totally stunned at how straight forward she'd been and how little emotion she showed while saying that whole thing. Also, she had totally told him what to do AND she got away with it without him getting mad in any way, shape or form.  
  
'Must have really scared him this morning. I have no idea how but I think I like being able to tell him what to do." She thought with a smirk as she neared the wooden doors leading to the Great Hall. 'I really must figure out what scared I'm so bad so I can do it more often!'  
  
Thanks to:  
  
Rebel-yell: Hey thanks for the encouragement! I really needed it because I didn't know if I wanted to keep the chapter 3 like it was. I would love the sarcasm so I can put some ridicule in my next thanks!!! Kidding! Ya Know I Luv Ya and your Sarcasm Jacq! 


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5  
  
Breakfast, A Little Trust and the First Confrontation  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters only the storyline and any of the story that I borrowed I will give them credit in that chapter at the end or the disclaimers in the following chapters. Enjoy and be as honest as possible in reviews without being downright mean.  
  
AN: I know that I made a mess up in the last Chapter by saying that the Prefect meeting would be after classes that day. I would go fix it but I'm too lazy to go do that right now. Lets just say the meetings at 4 ok? On with the story.  
  
~*~*~*~Draco's POV~*~*~*~  
  
Draco stood there absolutely stunned. He couldn't believe what he had just witnessed. Not only witnessed but had been a part of. He had let her boss him around and now she probably thought that she could always get away with it now!  
  
And even worse, he had agreed to be nice. well not nice but at least civil to her in public. 'Well, at least were allowed to fight in here'. He walked towards the portrait hole and started walking to the Great Hall.  
  
When he got there he sat at the Slytherin table beside Crabbe and Goyle who were to busy stuffing their faces to even notice that he was there. He grabbed a blueberry muffin off of one of the plates and let his eyes wander around the hall.  
  
He first looked up at the Head Table and saw Professor's Flitwick and Sprout and caught up in a conversation, McGonagall and Snape appeared to be having a fight of some kind and Dumbledore looked all around the hall, his eyes twinkling, it almost looked like he had something up his sleeve. He also saw Remus Lupin sitting at the table again. 'Must be the new DADA teacher' he thought.  
  
Draco looked at all the house tables and when he reached Gryffindors his gaze landed on the 'Golden Trio'. He saw them laughing, but couldn't notice that the smile and laughter never reached Grangers eyes like it used to. Her eyes were still cold, which was odd seeing as it hadn't been there when he got her from the compartment earlier and he thought that she trusted to other 2 enough to let her guard down around them. 'Guess I was wrong' he thought.  
  
Just then he saw her look around her and her eyes met his. That gaze did something to him, but he couldn't place what. It was like an electric shock went through him when she looked into his eyes.  
  
He was, for the 2nd time that day, the one to break the gaze. He grabbed another muffin and left the Great Hall with one thing on his mind. 'If we're working together this year, I'm going to insist a first name basis'.  
  
~*~*~*~Hermione's POV~*~*~*~  
  
Hermione sat down at the table across from Harry and Ron.  
  
"Hey you guys" she greeted.  
  
"Morning 'Mia" Harry said turning away from his conversation with Ron.  
  
"Hey Mia, here's your schedule, McGonagall gave it to us like 5 minutes ago when she realized you weren't here," Ron said handing her the Parchment.  
  
She looked over it and saw that first thing tomorrow morning was double potions with Slytherins, then Lunch, then Care of Magical Creatures, and History of Magic, both also with Slytherins. In fact every class they had this year was with the Slytherins except for the electives (A/N: couldn't remember how their referred to, to lazy to look it up), which was a mix of all houses. 'Just my luck! Malfoys in all my electives!' she thought while scowling at the parchment before her.  
  
She served herself some eggs and a blueberry muffin and began to talk with Harry and on, but wasn't really listening. She heard Ron say something about Fred and George pushing Bill into the lake just beyond the Burrow, and when Ginny went to help him out he just pulled her in with him. She thought this was quite hilarious and would've given' anything to see Ginny's face when she fell in.  
  
She started laughing with them but after a couple of moments she felt as if someone was watching her. She looked around her and her eyes landed on Malfoy meeting his cold, yet quizzical, stare.  
  
After holding it for a couple of minutes, he was, for the 2nd time that day, the one to break to the stare. He grabbed a muffin from the plate in front of him and Hermione's eyes followed him out of the Great Hall.  
  
"Mia, are you okay?" Harry asked with a worried look on his face.  
  
"Yea, Harry. I'm fine, why?"  
  
"Because you were laughing with us then you suddenly went quiet and got a far off look on your face" Ron answered and Harry nodded in agreement, as if to say that's what I was gonna say.  
  
"Yea, Mia. I mean your not the Mia that we knew last year. You've changed and the warmth of your smile and laugh doesn't reach your eyes anymore. Also, your always wearing guys pants and are in all black."  
  
"OMG!! Your kidding me right? I mean so I've changed, DEAL WITH IT!" she roared at the boys. " YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW WELL ENOUGH ANYMORE TO JUDGE ME AT ALL! YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT I WENT THROUGH THIS SUMMER, BUT THEN AGAIN I WOULDN'T EXPECT YOUR LITTLE NAÏVE MINDS TO UNDERSTAND ANYWAY!" with that she stormed out of the now silent Great Hall with everyone watching her.  
  
She stormed all the way to the common room and she practically yelled the password at Steven and Anca. When she got into the common room she slammed the door behind her, making her presence very well known to Malfoy.  
  
"Having a hissy fit, Granger?" he asked for his spot on the green and silver couch where he had been laying, by the looks of it trying to sleep.  
  
"Go to hell, Malfoy! I don't need your shit right now!" she snapped at him.  
  
"Whoa!! No way would I want to get hexed today, so I'll just leave you to your ranting Granger," he said with a small smirk on his face.  
  
"Just go away!" Hermione said in a voice with a little less edge to it and she felt ready to break down into tears.  
  
"Just breath.Hermione," Malfoy said.  
  
She froze. "What did you call me?"  
  
"I said, 'just breath.  
  
~*~*~*~Draco's POV~*~*~*~  
  
He saw her freeze in her spot, "what did you call me?"  
  
"I said, 'just breath.Hermione, Hermione," he repeated.  
  
"Why?" she asked with a suspicious look on her face.  
  
"Because I was thinking that we should be more than civil and in order to do that we're gonna have to forget about calling each other by last names, you agree?"  
  
"Yes." she answered, still looking skeptical.  
  
"Also this means that we have to put trust in each other to some extent, wouldn't you say?"  
  
"But that would mean were friends, and why would you want to be friends with a MUDBLOOD, Malfoy?" she told him, putting emphasis on the word mudblood.  
  
"Draco, Hermione. Please, call me Draco and to the mud.muggle-born thing, I no longer agree with that point of view. It's my twisted fathers way of thinking not mine."  
  
Hermione just stood there with a stunned expression on her face. He wished that he could tell what was going on in her head but it was impossible to tell now.  
  
"Come on, Hermione, please answer me. Will you call Draco?"  
  
"Ok, Draco it's a deal," she said with a small smile playing on her lips.  
  
"Good," Draco said with a huge grin spreading across his face. "Now would you like to tell me what the hell was wrong when you came in? The only other times I've ever seen you that mad were when I caused it and I know that there's no way I caused this."  
  
"Its just a small problem with Harry and Ron. Hey don't seem to like how much I've changed over the summer or the way I changed. They seem to think that the Old Hermione Granger, or Mia as they put it was better. The know- it-all, wears her emotions on her sleeve, good girl Mia was better. Well they don't know what caused this change, hell they don't even know who I am anymore, so they are in no place to judge me."  
  
It took Draco a second to process this, let alone that she trusted him enough already to tell him her problems. He thought that she would just tell him it was none of his business and she would leave.  
  
"Wow! The 'Golden Trio' is actually having problems among them? Now that's something you don't hear about everyday. Do they really thing that know-it- all, good girl is better than.well." he paused searching for the right word, but nothing came to him, so instead he just gestured to her and said ".this?"  
  
"Yes they do and what do you mean by this?" she said, imitating what he had just done.  
  
"Well, I mean, don't they think that it was a bout time for a change from the good girl persona? Don't you think it was time for a change?"  
  
"Yea. I guess." she answered while pushing her sleeves up. Draco's eyes wondered down to her arms and his jaw dropped again. He still couldn't figure out what had caused these. "What?" she asked when she saw the look on his face.  
  
"Where did those come from?"  
  
"Oh, these?" she started, gesturing up and down her arms. "I was just in a minor car accident before I left. I'm fine though. All I have are some bruises and scratches" she finished on a more cheery note,  
  
"Hermione, I know you know that that was NOT caused by a car accident. (A/N: Lets just say he had taken the first year of muggle studies so he knows what a car is, ok?). And, I also know that I know that this was not the result of an accident. Would you please tell me what actually happened?"  
  
"You don't know shit, Draco! DON'T YOU DARE TELL ME THAT YOU KNOW MORE THAN I DO ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED TO ME!! YOU CAN JUST GO TO HELL WITH THE REST OF THEM!" with that piece said she took the stairs two at a time to her bedroom and slammed the door behind her.  
  
'Well I guess that didn't really go to plan, did it?' he thought sarcastically. 'No shit Sherlock' his Malfoy half said wryly, ' it couldn't have gone worse if there was a war going on around you,' "Oh would you just SHUT UP" he muttered to himself while going up the stairs to his bedroom and shutting the door.  
  
~They both stayed in their bedrooms until it was time for lunch, when they decided it was time to leave as they still had to tell the Prefects about the meeting. 


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6 2nd Meeting and the Announcement  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters only the storyline and any of the story that I borrowed I will give them credit in that chapter at the end or the disclaimers in the following chapters. Enjoy and be as honest as possible in reviews without being downright mean.  
  
~*~*~*~Hermione's POV~*~*~*~  
  
Hermione exited her the common room at 12:30 (lunch starts at 12:30) and headed towards the Great Hall.  
  
Her plan was to go there tell Ginny and Justin when the meeting was, grab some fruit then go back to her room until the meeting. This plan had a little glitch right away. Justin wasn't there. She could've just gone and looked for him in the Hufflepuff house, but she was just to lazy today.  
  
So she took a seat beside Ginny and grabbed ham, lettuce and cheese sub from one of the plates (A/N: could be more imaginative but I don't really care about what they eat at this point!). She watched the door out of the corner of her eye and saw Harry and Ron enter the Hall. They started to make their way towards her but she quickly got up, told Ginny when the meeting was and that she see her later. As if on queue, Justin walked in to the Hall. Hermione quickly ran up and told him about the meeting and that if there was a change she would just come find him or send an owl if all else failed. Justin thanked her and headed to his table.  
  
When she arrived at her common room, she found Draco sitting a in a chair in front of the fireplace, reading. 'Now that's something I'd never thought I'd see' she thought. As she got closer though, she realized he wasn't reading. He was asleep!  
  
She stood there toying with the idea to wake him up but decided not to. He just looked too peaceful and innocent. 'Now there's a new thought! Him innocent, like that would ever happen'. But she was finding impossible to tear her eyes away. She walked over to the couch and picked up the Slytherin fleece blanket. She then walked over to him, took the book out of his hands and put it on top of him.  
  
With that done she picked a book from one of the shelves and walked up to her room to read until the meeting.  
  
~*~*~*~Draco's POV~*~*~*~  
  
Like 3 hours later Draco finally woke. He looked down to see that he was covered up and that his book was on the table next to him.  
  
He glanced at the clock and saw that it was 5 to4. He had 5MINUTES to get t the meeting. He ran up the stairs to grab a sweatshirt and noticed a light on under Hermione's door.  
  
"Hey Hermione, come on we have like 5 minutes to get to the meeting! He waited a second and didn't get an answer, so he knocked a few more time and when he still wasn't getting a reaction he tried the door. It was unlocked and when he entered he found her sound asleep on her bed.  
  
'She looks so peaceful' he thought, 'I really don't want to wake her up, but she'd be so pissed if I let her miss that meeting'. His mind made up he gracefully walked over to her.  
  
"Hermione, come you have to get up now, the meetings in like 3 minutes" he said in the softest voice manageable, while shaking her lightly.  
  
"Go away" she mumbled before turning over onto her side.  
  
"Hermione, the meetings in exactly 2 minutes, don't want to miss it, do you? It would make a pretty bad first impression, don't you think?"  
  
She finally opened her eyes, and nest thing he knew she was up on her feet. "OMG! What time is it? We better move and now."  
  
She rushed down the stairs, out of the portrait hole and was down the corridors, at a break neck speed, with Draco falling close behind her. They arrived at the meeting with about 10 seconds to spare.  
  
"Well I guess we weren't late," Hermione said wryly while catching her breath.  
  
~*~*~*~A Little into the Meeting*~*~*~*~  
  
"Ok, so its agreed that Hermione and I will patrol on Mondays and Wednesdays, while Flint-Fletchy and Weasley on Sundays and Thursdays, and Blaise and Patil on Tuesdays and Fridays and the teachers agreed to take Saturdays. Also we all patrol on Hogsmeade weekends. We have an extra trip before each ball, as well as we can go to Diagon Alley for any supplies for decorations that we need."  
  
Hermione took over. " Now, Ginny and Padma have agreed to decide on the decorations and Justin and Zambini are doing the music, so that leaves Draco and I on food, is that correct?" Everyone answered with a yes. "Ok then, well just make sure the decorations are fitted for a costume ball and that's it. Meeting dismissed."  
  
Just then Dumbledore came through the portrait hole. "One second everyone. I would like to say that Prefects and Heads will be attending the ball together. Now. I know you don't all get along, but seeing as you are working together this year I thought this was a good way to set an example for the rest of the school. I'll let you decide who's going with whom. Good Day!" With that Dumbledore smiled at them and he had a twinkle in his eye.  
  
"Good day, Professor," they choused as he left the common room.  
  
"Well I guess that means we're going to have to decide who's going with who" Draco started.  
  
"Ya think" Blaise cut him off.  
  
"Blaise, I was just making a statement. ANYWAY, I thought that since Hermione and I are the Heads we should go together, and then you 4 can fight over who wants to go with whom. However, if there is an extreme amount of fight, Hermione and I shall be forced to pick for you. Is that clear?"  
  
"Crystal, boss," Blaise retorted, while rolling his eyes.  
  
"Hermione is that ok with you?"  
  
"Sure, actually I totally agree", Hermione replied. "Now, we'll just stay here while you make your decisions."  
  
Justin and Padma immediately said that they were going with each other and no one thought it was far to argue seeing as they were dating. "So that means Zambini and Ginny are going together, is that okay with you guys?" Hermione asked with an apologetic look to Ginny.  
  
The 2 were glaring at each other, but they both nodded their heads.  
  
"Good, Hermione and I shall see you guys at the meeting on Wednesday and if you have any questions before then, feel free to come and ask us," Draco finished off, with a glare on his face as if to say if you want to live DO NOT ask me. "Ok, again meeting dismissed".  
  
Hermione and Draco both headed back to their common room as they still had an hour before dinner. When they got there, Draco turned and out of the blue said "Thanks".  
  
"For what?" Hermione asked looking a bit puzzled.  
  
"For covering me up and letting me sleep. I didn't sleep well last night." "Oh, that? No problem. Actually, out one moment of kindness, I would like to thank you for getting me up. I wouldn't have made it to the meeting if you hadn't."  
  
"Well I don't want to do all the work myself no do I?"  
  
"No I guess not. But, DO NOT let this moment of kindness leave this room! You got it?"  
  
"Yes mam'," he said while saluting her, "but same to you. No one, I repeat NO ONE can know that I said the words thank you to you. Not even Potty and Weasel. Got it?"  
  
"No worries. I would have to be talking to them to tell them anyway. Well I'm going to go and take a quick shower now, so I don't have to when we get back from dinner."  
  
Draco followed her up the stairs with the intention to go and get a book from his room. While in hi room, he suddenly realized something. Hermione had let her guard down a little when around him. She was starting to really truly trust him!  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Over the next couple of months, Hermione and Draco came to totally and completely trust each other. They told each other almost everything and spent most of their spare time together. Hermione was still not talking to Harry and Ron, who were becoming increasingly jealous that it looked like they had been replaced. They couldn't handle the thought that Hermione no longer wanted to be around them. But seeing as she refused to talk to them they could think of nothing that they could do. Draco was finally happy that he had someone he could talk to and Hermione glad that he knew her past and yet he was still there. They were both still cold when around others, but let their guard down when around each other. ~*~*~*~*~**~*~*~*~  
  
A/N: I know that this was a relatively boring chapter and the whole Dumbledore making them go together has been used many times but it was all I could think of that gave them a good reason to go together as well as being able to speed up the story a bit.  
  
Thanks to:  
  
gabbygirl - Hey thanks for the review. I'm glad your liking it. When you said it was messed up was that on ff.net or just like something in to story??  
  
Firehottie - Hey, THANKS!! As you can see I wrote more soon! Chapter 7 should also be up by Tuesday.  
  
Diamondeye - I like the punk Hermione to. The reason I'm using 'Mia is because I'm wasn't to nuts on using Mio or Mione cause I really don't like those, plus I think Mia sounds better. I'm so happy your enjoying it! 


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7  
  
Homework, Second Confrontation and We Love You Like A Sister Mia  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters only the storyline and any of the story that I borrowed I will give them credit in that chapter at the end or the disclaimers in the following chapters. Enjoy and be as honest as possible in reviews without being downright mean.  
  
A/N: VERY IMPORTANT! This may not sound important but you need to read to get the story. I'm speeding it up as I don't feel like filling in meaningless details. It is now October and its like 2 days before the ball. Also I'm sorry if this is a boring chapter but I'm writing the majority of it at 11:30 at night and am feeling very uncreative right now. So again, please forgive me!  
  
~*~*~*~Draco's POV~*~*~*~  
  
"This assignment is due at the beginning of next class. I expect it handed into my then with no excuses. If its NOT handed in expect a zero, unless you are deadly sick or dead!" Snape voice rang through the dead silent class. "Am I understood?"  
  
Still no one dared to speak and only nodded their heads. Snape appeared to be in an extremely foul mode today. Even more so than usual. Finally the sound of the bell was heard throughout the class. Everyone quickly gathered their things and ran from the class.  
  
Sure, Snape tend to be really mean but this was getting ridicules. He had been worse to the advanced potions class than any other and he was getting worse by the class. Like, yeah, Draco could understand that he wanted to push he advanced students to reach their limit but come on. He had now assigned 3 different homework assignments, each having nothing to do with the others and they were all due on Monday.  
  
(A/N: I realize I never said that he and Hermione were in the Advanced classes but being Head boy/girl I thought it would be obvious. Anyway, they have all their classes with the same houses as the normal potions class, theirs is just smaller and harder)  
  
Draco had made every advanced class this year, along with Hermione. Sofar they had had 1 essay due in Transfiguration, sounds simple but it has to be 3 feet long!, they had to perfect the charm; so they can change they're voice; as well as a foot and half on it for Charms, they had to do an essay on the Patronus and practice using it for DADA, and 2 essays to complete for Herbology but he couldn't remember what on; 'note to self, ask Hermione what the Herbology homework is and ask her for help'. Hagrid, however had been nice this week and didn't give them any homework. This was only in their main subjects.  
  
He couldn't for the life of him remember what he had to do for Arithmacy and Anchient Runes. 'Also ask Hermione about elective homework' he mentally added to his list.  
  
On top pf all that, he still had Head duties, which meant weekly meeting with Hermione and the Prefects; sometimes 2 or 3 a week; planning for the ball which was in 2 days, patrolling the halls and filling in if someone got sick, as they agreed that they would cut the Prefects some slack for now if they made sure everything was ready for the ball on Saturday and after Christmas they had to take over Hermione's and Draco's duties for the first to Hogsmeade trips, meaning that no one got out that shouldn't.  
  
He was extremely glad that Dumbledore had canceled classes on Friday in preperation for the ball as he, Hermione and the Prefects had a few finally touches they had to do and the Prefects had to go to Hogsmeade to get the rest of the decorations.  
  
He headed to the Heads common room. He had some major homework to do for next week and he wouldn't have much time for it tomorrow or Saturday as it would be spent decorating. So that left tonight and Sunday. He ticked off in his head what he had done all ready; Transfiguration, Charms, DADA and one of his Potions essays was done and the second was half finished. So that left Herbology, Arithmacy, Anchint Runes, and one potions essay.  
  
'Looks like I'm pulling an all nighter tonight' he thought with a frown.  
  
Draco was still wearing a frown when he reached the portrait.  
  
"Whats wrong, Draco?" Anca asked.  
  
"Oh, nothing. Just a lot of homework to do for next week" Draco replied, "but thanks for asking. Is Hermione in yet?"  
  
"Yes, she arrived like 2 minutes ago" Steven replied.  
  
"Thank you. Serpents Lioness." The Portrait swung open and when Draco entered he found Hermione already at her desk in the corner working.  
  
"Hey Hermione, what do we have to do for Ancient Runes, Arithmacy and Herbology?" he asked her.  
  
"Ancient Runes you have to translate pages 344-347 for next Tuesday, Arithmacy pages 102-105 and Herbology read page 59 and do 1 foot and ½ on whatevers on it and page 132 and another foot and a half on whatevers there."  
  
"Thanks" he said as he sat down at his own desk and began to work. They stayed like this until it was time for supper.  
  
"Come on Draco, lets go eat, I'm starving!" Hermione said while stretching.  
  
She held out her arm to him so that he would stand up and they walked together to the Great Hall. When they entered not even a single head turned their way, as it had become regular that they walked into meals together.  
  
While this greatly bothered the Slytherins and Gryffindors at first they had both explained that, since they had to work together all year, they had to become friends. Harry and Ron were still, however, insanely jealous and this brought Draco and Hermione much joy.  
  
Draco couldn't help but feel joy because they had hurt Hermione bad and he didn't like to see her hurt and it may have had a bit to do with the fact that they were still mortal enemies. But you know that wasn't a big factor.  
  
After about 20 minutes, Hermione looked up and nodded to Draco, singling to him that she was leaving. By the look on her face she was rather annoyed to. When he nodded back she got up and left. Draco's eyes followed her to the door and when he looked back to the Gryffindor table he saw that Potty and Weasel had seated themselves like 3 seats away from her.  
  
'Uh-oh! She's gonna be major time pissed tonight' he thought. She always was after they tried to talk to her and get her to accept them back as friends. He decided that it might smart to get back quickly, because last time she left looking like that, he had come back to a completely destroyed common room.  
  
He said good night to Blaise, got up and left. When he got to the Portrait hole , Steven and Anca looked really worried.  
  
"What's wrong you two?" Draco asked.  
  
"She's in a really bad mood tonight, Draco. She actually slammed the door closed and it sounds like she's tearing apart your common room again" Steven replied.  
  
"Oh man! I was hoping I would make it back before she started again" he sighed, "Good Night you two, Serpents Lioness."  
  
When he got through the portrait hole he saw the she had already pulled the majority of the books off the shelves and had kicked over the desks and tables. At the moment she was throwing the pillows around and looked like she was getting ready to tip the couches.  
  
He went up behind her and grabbed onto her arms.  
  
"Hermione its okay, breath" he soothed her.  
  
"I hate them! I hate them! I HATE THEM!! Why can't they just leave me alone? They wouldn't take a hint in September, and they still won't! I've yelled at them countless times and they refuse to back off! Please just leave me alone you two! I cant take it anymore!" she had calmed slightly but now looked close to tears.  
  
"Hermione, have you told them that? Told them exactly what you just told me? You've told them to back off but they haven't. Tell them that you can't take it anymore. They're just causing you more pain every time they talk to you. Tell them that you can't handle anymore pain and if they are real friends, they will back off until your ready to take them back. Who knows that could be in a week or 2 years but you have to try this. Listen theres still half an hour until the end of dinner. I'll go down and tell Ginny to bring them here after dinner, ok? That way Ginny will be here for extra support."  
  
"Ok, this had better work or its your ass, my friend" she replied with a small smile.  
  
"Ok, why don't you start cleaning up while I go and give Ginny the message, ok?"  
  
"Ok, I'll see in a couple of minutes" she said while pulling out her wand to put all the books back.  
  
'She seems to get weaker every time they talk to her' he thought as he left.  
  
Thankfully Ginny was still in the Hall. Although they still didn't completely get along, the Prefects and Heads had decided everything had to be first name basis and they had to get along to some extent.  
  
Hermione had called a special meeting of the Heads and Prefects in the 3rd week of school to explain what had happened over the summer as they were all getting worried about her. She had looked totally sleep deprived since the second week and no one had known why. Apparently her father had been haunting her dreams since the 3rd night back and now she was terrified to go back to sleep. No one wanted to put Hermione through more pain so that's kinda how the whole lets get along thing came up.  
  
"Hey Ginny, I need to talk to you for a minute," Draco told the red and he approached her.  
  
"Oh hey Draco, what is it?" she asked turning around so that she was looking at him.  
  
"Mia needs to talk to Potty and Weasel tonight. She wants to try one last time to get them to leave her alone. But she needs us there for support. So can you bring them by after dinner. Just make sure that they don't know the password ok?"  
  
"Ok, I'll bring them by then. Does she want anyone else there?"  
  
"No just you and the assholes. If she does I'll get them my self later. Can you let them know of whats going on though? That way if they're needed they can be waiting in their common room, ok?"  
  
"Yeah, sure, no problem," Ginny answered, "I'll see in like 15 minutes, see you then."  
  
Then Ginny got up and went to talk to the 'assholes' and the other Prefects. Draco turned to leave the Hall, not wanting to leave Hermione alone longer then needed, especially with what she was about to do.  
  
When he go back, he saw that Hermione had everything back to normal already. She was sitting on the Gryffindor couch with her arms wrapped around her, rocking back and forth. She had a distance look in her eyes and she looked ready to kill.  
  
"Mia are you ok?"  
  
"Am I ok? I honestly have no clue Draco. All I know is that all I seem to feel right now is hate. Pure Hate. That's not like me, or at least I didn't think so. Ever since the beginning of the year that's all I've felt. Sure I trust people, but I have a wall around my heart, and I don't know how to let it down anymore. I."  
  
Just then there was a knock at the portrait hole. Before either got up to get it though, they heard another 2, meaning that Ginny was there with the others. They had devised this system so that they would know who was at the door.  
  
Ginny walked in with the 'assholes' trailing her. She walked right over and sat on the other side of Hermione, comforting her.  
  
Draco nodded curtly at the two boys, who at the moment were looking confused yet hopeful. 'They really think that she's going to forgive them tonight. Geez, how thick can you get?' Draco wondered, as he pointed to the Slytherin couch.  
  
"Hey Mia, how are you?" Ron asked. "Don't 'Hey Mia" me you bastard! Do you know what I've out up over the last few months? Do you have any clue how I've been living? NO, BECAUSE YOU TWO HAVE BEEN IGNORANT LITTLE ASSES. I'VE BEEN THROUGH THE SEVEN HELLS AND BACK AGAIN! BUT ALL MY TWO SUPPOSED BEST FRIENDS CARED ABOUT WAS THAT I WASN'T THE SAME. WELL, LET ME ASK YOU, WOULD YOU BE OK IF YOUR MOM DIED AFTER 16 YEARS, RON? OR YOU HARRY, WOULD YOU BE OK IF YOUR DAD STARTED BEATING YOU BECAUSE HE BLAMED IT ON YOU? NO, THERES NO WAY I HELL YOU WOULD BE OK!" she stopped to take a breath before continuing, and saw that Harry was about to open his mouth. "POTTER, DO NOT SAY AT LEAST I HAD A MOTHER AND FATHER FOR 16 YEARS! DO NOT! IT'S A LOT HARDER WHEN YOU'VE ACTUALLY KNOWN THEM. ITS EVEN HARDER WHEN YOU REALIZE THAT YOUR FATHER DOESN'T LOVE YOU ANYMORE! YOU TWO HAD NO RIGHT, YOU HEAR ME, NO RIGHT TO TELL ME I WASN'T ACTING LIKE I SHOULD BE" by now she was shaking with all the rage that she had built up over the last two months. Ginny tried to hug her to get her to calm down but Hermione just shrugged her off.  
  
"I SPENT LIKE 3 NIGHT CRYING,YOU HEAR ME, CRYING. I HAVENT CRIED SINCE THE FIRST BEATING. YOU GUYS TOTALLY AND COMPLETELY RUINED ANY CHANCE OF ME TRUSTING YOU THIS YEAR. I TRUST DRACO AND BLAISE, SLY-THER-INS, MORE THAN I TRUST YOU TWO. NOW I WANT YOU GUYS TO FUCK OFF! LEAVE ME ALONE! I CANT TAKE IT ANYMORE OK! I CANT YOU GUYS FOLLOWING ME EVERYWHERE I GO, TRYING TO GET ME TO TALK TO YOU. YOU GUYS TAKE AWAY A LITTLE BIT MORE OF MY HAPPINESS EVERY TIME YOU DO. HAPPINESS THAT GINNY AND JUSTIN AND PADMA AND BLAISE AND MOST OF ALL, DRACO, HAVE WORKED HARD TO BUILD UP! SO PLEASE FUCK OFF! I'LL TALK TO YOU WHEN I'M READY!"  
  
All of a sudden she just collapsed onto the couch, totally out of energy. Then they heard her whisper, "please, if your real friends, you'll back off until I'm ready to come back to you. So please. Just leave me alone."  
  
Then she all of a sudden did something no one expected. They thought she would cry or lash out but instead, she just leaned into Draco and Ginny and asked them to tell the others to leave.  
  
"You heard her, GO!" Draco told the two totally awestruck teens. "Go and leave her alone so she can be happy, I'm sure you want her to be happy, but obviously you don't know how."  
  
With that he turned back to Hermione and whispered, "are you okay just with me and Ginny or do you want me or Ginny to get the others?"  
  
"Please, get the others. I would be fine but if I don't have lots of people around me, I think I might hurt someone or destroy something. I have to much anger right now that has nowhere to go," she said from where she was leaning on Ginny.  
  
"I'll go get them, then. And I thought we told you to LEAVE!" Draco turned around to see Harry and Ron still rooted to their spot.  
  
He went up and gave them a little push, indicating that they were supposed to leave and now. "Come on, get out! Your not needed right now."  
  
Finally the two teens left with Draco following. "I'll be back in a minute, ok?"  
  
"Just go get the others Draco. Tell them that Mia needs them and now," Ginny answered while still hugging Hermione, "Maybe send Padma to the kitchens for some tea to calm her down,ok?"  
  
"Ok. I'll see you two in a minute." With that he walked out of the portrait hole.  
  
He hated seeing her like this. She had warmed a little bit, but every time she had a little bit of happiness, twice as much got taken away. She looked tired all the time, like she hadn't slept in weeks but never asked for any help. He and the Prefects had tried to help her but she pushed them away.  
  
Yeah, sure, she had become really close friends with them but Draco didn't think that she truly trusted anyone yet. She had been hurt bad by the three people closest to her, and she didn't want it to happen again.  
  
Draco arrived at the Prefect portrait, and said the password, everlasting life in death. The portrait door swung open and when Draco entered, he found 3 very worried Prefects.  
  
"Hey guys. Well she did it, but it took a lot out of her. She needs us and fast, but she needs something to calm her down. Can some onbe go and get so tea for her?"  
  
"I will" Padma volunteered.  
  
"Thanks Padma, just meet us at the Head common, ok? Don't even bother with the signal because no one else should be bugging us tonight."  
  
"Yeah, I'll be there in like 5 minutes" Padma replied, while leaving.  
  
"Come on, I don't want to leave Mia and Ginny alone for to long, especially if Mia gets angry again, she'll totally destroy the common room before Ginny has any time to stop her."  
  
Draco turned and left, with Justin and Blaise on his heels. He had never thought that he would be getting Hermione comfort before or even giving it to her. Also he never thought that one of the other people giving her comfort would be Blaise, a fellow Slytherin and his best friend.  
  
In the Head common room , they found Hermione on the couch, her hands wrapped around her knees, rocking back and forth, just like she had been when Draco had come back from telling Ginny to bring the 'assholes'. And again she had murder in her eyes.  
  
Ginny was sitting right beside her though. Draco noticed the amount of worry evident in her eyes. 'Apparently Mia's never been like this before' Draco thought.  
  
She looked scary, though, even he had to admit it. All of a sudden Hermione was up off the couch and tearing apart the bookshelf again. Draco went up to her and tried to calm her but she refused to let him anywhere near her. Even when Blaise, Justin or Ginny tried to get near her, she would run away.  
  
Draco didn't like this side of her and he was downright worried now. She had never said no to comfort before. She was really hurt, and it showed. While, her eyes had gone back to cold, her body language showed how upset she was.  
  
When Padma showed up and tried, Hermione lost all control and complete lashed out at her. Padma just escaped without having her ankle broken.  
  
Finally, Hermione calmed and fell to her knees, crying. She hadn't cried since September but finally she let the others comfort her.  
  
"Come on Mia, we need you, don't you dare go crazy now you hear? I've only been around you for like 2 months, but I think everyone would agree when I say your like a sister and there's no way we're going to let those bastards ruin your life, ok? Please let us help you get through this, we'll be there every step of the way. We WILL NOT turn our backs on you. We'll love you no matter what, Mia!"  
  
Draco looked around to see who had said this, and was beyond surprised to find that it was Blaise, his cold, heartless best friend was the one comforting Hermione. ' I guess if I can change and he can change then theres hope for everyone' he thought.  
  
Hermione got up off the floor and went over and sat in one of to arm chaors oin front of the fire. Draco and the others spent the next two hours comforting her and telling her that they would be there through the whole thing and that they loved her and she was more like a sister than a friend.  
  
She just sat there, totally quiet, listening to what they said. Finally, she nodded off to sleep. Draco picked her up, not wanting to wake her and had Justin come up and open the door to Hermione's room for him.  
  
He laid her on her bed and flicked his wand to transfigure her clothes to night clothes. Then everyone came up and kissed her on the forehead while saying goodnight. Finally, Draco went up kissed her lightly, pulled the covers so that she was completely covered and left the room, leaving the words, "I'll love you always Mia, don't ever, ever forget that"  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
So what did you think?? This was the best chapter to write. Yes it started out boring, but I've been want Hermione to give Harry and Ron what was coming to them ever since I started this fic! Also, I love the whole Blaise and Draco going soft and Blaise being the first to come forward with that little speech. I thought that it was needed to show that Slytherins have a heart but it takes something that really gets to them to show it. Please review this chapter!! I'll be back soon with the next I promise.  
  
Thanks to Firehottie and DrAcOLuVeR79 for the excellent reviews.  
  
DrAcOLuVeR79: I love the new Hermione and Draco to. Thanks for the good review!  
  
Hope Everyone Enjoyed!  
  
Pure Mudblood ∧ proud of it! 


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8 Morning After and Shopping  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters only the storyline and any of the story that I borrowed I will give them credit in that chapter at the end or the disclaimers in the following chapters. Enjoy and be as honest as possible in reviews without being downright mean.  
  
WARNING: Hermione and Draco are softer than usual for the next 3 chapters, all having to do with the Ball. They will return to relatively normal after however.  
  
~*~*~*~Hermione's POV~*~*~*~  
  
Hermione woke up in her bed the next morning. She didn't have the slightest clue about how she got there but she was glad that she was there. She had absolutely no recollection of what had happened the previous night. Then she glanced in the mirror, saw her red eyes and tear stained face and everything came rushing back to her.  
  
Harry and Ron annoying her at dinner. Draco telling Ginny to bring them over after dinner. Ginny and the 'assholes' coming to the common room. Hermione yelling at them, venting all her built up anger. Her collapsing and Draco telling them to leave. Draco getting the others, while she got comfort from Ginny. Her pushing Ginny off and going into her fetal position, ready to kill whoever came near her. Her destroying some of the common room. Not trusting anyone near her and almost hurting Padma. Her showing a weakness and crying. Blaise comforting her telling her exactly what she needed to hear. The others comforting her until she fell asleep.  
  
'Oh My God! I can't believe I did that. Well I guess they did totally deserve it' she thought to herself. ' Note to self: apologize to Padma for trying to hurt her and thank all of them for being true friends'.  
  
She grabbed all her things and went to take a shower. When she was done with her shower and dressed, she was putting a spell on her face to hide that she was crying, she heard someone knocking.  
  
"It's safe Draco" she called, knowing it was him. She smiled when she remembered the first time Draco had walked in her. He had yet to enter the bathroom without knocking, unless he knew where she was.  
  
"Morning Mia, how are you?"  
  
"Pretty good considering, but there's no way in hell that I'm sitting at the Gryffindor table this morning. I think I'll sit with Padma and Justin at the Ravenclaw table this morning (A/N: I know that Justin's Hufflepuff, but he sits with Padma for meals)."  
  
"I don't blame you anyway. I think I'll come sit with you guys too. I know Ginny wont sit anywhere near the 'assholes' this morning either. She was major time pissed at them yesterday. I don't know if Blaise would though. Yes he does love you like a sister, but who knows. He's surprised me many times this year and I'm supposed to know everything about him."  
  
"Well, I don't want him doing anything that could really hurt his reputation. Although the only ones that will care are the Slytherins and we don't seem to bug them. Oh well. I'll see you at breakfast, I'm going to get Ginny from Gryffindor."  
  
"Are you sure you want to do that. I mean you don't want to run into THEM do you?"  
  
"No but Ginny's meeting me right outside the portrait that connects to my room, so I shouldn't see them anyway."  
  
"Ok, if you're sure. I'll see you in like 15minutes."  
  
"See you then," Hermione said and walked out of the bathroom with a smile on her face.  
  
'What would I ever do without him,' she thought as she made her way back to her room. 'He's become my pillar of strength and I think I might die if he's not around.'  
  
"Limited days," she said to the portrait. She was glad to find Ginny already there when she stepped through the portrait.  
  
"Morning Gin," she said with a smile.  
  
"Morning Mia, how are you?" she asked with a smile but Hermione could see the worry in her eyes.  
  
"Good, you know considering. But lets get out of here before." she stopped mid-sentence when the two people she wanted to see most came down the steps from the boys' dormitory. They both glanced up to see her and they headed her way.  
  
"Hey," Ginny started, "I could've sworn we told you guys to go away and leave Mia alone!"  
  
"You did, and we will right after we say this" Harry replied, his eyes glued to the ground.  
  
"Mi-Hermione, we're so sorry, we never meant to make your life hell, but you could've just told us straight out what was wrong" Harry started.  
  
"No POTTER I could've have. In order to do that I would have to trust you, and I haven't trusted you since the second day of school."  
  
"Look, Hermione, we really are sorry but I know that there's no way to make it better. So Harry and I'll just leave you alone like you asked, and you can talk when you're ready. Good-bye Mia" Ron said, his voice cracking sounding like he was ready to cry.  
  
""Your right, Weasley, there is no way to make it up. Good bye" she finished and spun on her heal, Ginny right beside her.  
  
When they got to the Great Hall, Hermione and Ginny headed right for the Ravenclaw table, where Justin and Padma were already seated.  
  
"Hey you two. How are you this morning Mia?" Justin questioned.  
  
"Fine until about three minutes ago when the assholes decided that they had to ruin one more day in my life," she grumbled. Padma and Justin looked to Ginny for an explanation.  
  
"Apparently, they didn't understand that each time they talk to her they make her a little more miserable. Anyway lets not talk about that. Hey, look," she said pointing over Justin's shoulder, "here comes Draco and.BLAISE? I never would've thought he would sit with us."  
  
"Neither did I but I'm glad he is, maybe he can come up with something to make my day better," Hermione said a little bit brighter.  
  
"Hey guys. Mia, you look sad again. What happened?" Draco asked his voice full of concern.  
  
"I'll tell later I'd prefer not to live through it again. Lets just say it involved Potter and Weasley again."  
  
"Ooook, so anybody have any idea what were doing today?" Draco asked, while grabbing an apple spice muffin off the plate in front of him.  
  
"We're supposed to go to Hogsmeade, idiot. In case you forgot but we do have to finish planning for the ball and picking everything up" Blaise said while smacking Draco upside the head.  
  
Draco glared at him. "Come on you guys, lets go like now so that we can get it over with. I don't want to spend anymore time with this loser than I have to" he said with an evil grin.  
  
"Nice to know you love each other so much you two. I mean real friendly" Hermione said her old smirk returning.  
  
"Draco she's not aloud to spend anymore time with you," Padma told him. "You're going to corrupt her!"  
  
"Am not" Draco retorted sticking his tongue out at her.  
  
"Real mature Draco. You have been promoted from the age of 17 to the age of 2" Hermione told him.  
  
"Hey thanks Mia, I always wanted to be 2 again. It means I can be double annoying and not get in trouble!" a grin spreading across his face.  
  
"Great going Mia, you just gave us all a reason to kill him!" Ginny pointed out.  
  
"Hey, that wasn't nice Ginny!" Draco said, glaring at her.  
  
"Lets go before they kill each other. I don't know about you three but I don't want to set up everything on my own tomorrow" Hermione told the other three.  
  
"I totally agree Mia" Justin told her. With that the 6 stood up and walked out of the hall together. They didn't even notice that almost every eye was watching them. It wasn't everyday that you saw 6 people from different houses walking together.  
  
They stopped at the Prefect common room first, than the Head so that they all had money and sweatshirts with them. Hermione grabbed her hoodie with the snake on it.  
  
"I must say that's my favorite sweatshirt that you own" Blaise commented when she came down the stairs.  
  
"I totally agree with Blaise" Draco said.  
  
"I wonder why you like you two. It wouldn't have to do with the fact that your Slytherins would it? Or the fact the you have the same one Draco, which you are also wearing?"  
  
"Nope, nothing like that at all Mia" Blaise said. Draco nodded and they both smirked.  
  
"Don't do that you two, it looks creepy," Padma told them.  
  
"Do what?" they both asked with angelic looks on their faces.  
  
"Are you sure you aren't related?" Ginny asked.  
  
"Yup, positive. I'd have to be evil to be related to that git," Blaise said earning a smack from Draco.  
  
"I don't think I'm the evil one here," Draco told him.  
  
"Stop it you two, lets go have some fun! I think that we could all use it today" Hermione told them.  
  
"Yeah, I agree with Mia" Justin told them.  
  
"Anyway, I still don't have anything to wear for tomorrow," Hermione said.  
  
"Don't worry Mia, I don't think anyone of us has had time to shop for that kind of thing yet" Ginny assured her.  
  
They talked all the way to Hogsmeade and when they were done with getting all the final touches on the decorations, food, music, etc. they decided to split to get their things for the ball.  
  
"We'll meet you at the Three Broomsticks in about an hour okay?" Ginny told the guys.  
  
"Ok" they agreed.  
  
~*~*~In dress Shop~*~*~  
  
"Oh my god! Mia this would look great on you!" Padma told her holding up a long red dress with some golden color threads imbedded in it.  
  
(A/N: I know that is supposed to be dress robes but I think dresses are better for now)  
  
"Padma, while yes its beautiful, do I need to remind you that A) I'm going with Draco so red is probably not smart, B) since when do I wear anything but black? and C) sorry but I'm not really big on Gryffindor colors at the moment" Hermione told her friends. "It would, however, look awesome on Ginny," she added.  
  
"You know it would. Where is she?"  
  
"Looking at the dresses over there," Hermione told her pointing over her shoulder. They took it over to her.  
  
"Ginny, we found you the perfect dress" Padma told her excitedly.  
  
"Oh my god! That's beautiful Padma! It wont fit though, its to long. Besides I'm going with Blaise, he wont look good with someone in red and he wont like it either."  
  
"I don't care, this was made for you and we can fix the length with magic, ok? Now go and try it on!" Padma pushed her into the dressing room.  
  
"Padma, this is so you" Hermione said pulling out a long purple spaghetti strap dress with a see through blue shall.  
  
"Go try it on, while I look for mine" Hermione told the girl who was standing there with her mouth open.  
  
'I can't believe that the girly girls found a dress faster than I did' she thought.  
  
She'd been looking for the last half an hour but there was nothing in her style and color.  
  
"Hey Mia, what do you think of them?" she heard Ginny say from behind her.  
  
"You two look amazing," she told them and she meant it. Padma's dress was long, elegant and from fitting. The shall sat nicely on her shoulders and she seriously couldn't have looked much better if she tried. Ginny's dress while yes it was a bit long, it was absolutely stunning on her. The red toned her hair down a bit and the gold made her complexion shine. With a little make-up both would easily be the prettiest girls in Hogwarts.  
  
They looked at each other and gave the compliments before telling Hermione that they would be out in a minute to help her.  
  
She turned back to the racks and started looking at all the dresses. Then she came across the perfect one. It was in her opinion breath taking. It was grey, but when the light hit it at certain angles it glimmered silver. It was strapless and had a silvery shall with it.  
  
(A/N: I'm bad a describing dresses as you've probably figured out, for I despise the things. Also, I know that dresses aren't Hermione's thing but there's still a little of that girly girl in her)  
  
'Draco would love this' she found her self-thinking.  
  
She was still standing admiring the dress when Ginny and Padma came up behind her and saw the dress she was holding.  
  
"Hermione that would look brilliant on you!" Padma told her.  
  
"Mia' go try it on," Ginny urged, while pushing her towards the dressing room.  
  
Once in the dress she couldn't help but love it more. It was as if it was made for her. It fit every curve perfectly and flowed at the bottom.  
  
"Hermione, that is totally you. Draco would love it!" Ginny told her when she came out to show them.  
  
"He would, wouldn't he?" Hermione asked.  
  
"Yes, now your getting it and that's final" Padma told her with a smile.  
  
Hermione went in and changed. The girls went up and paid for their dresses than headed to the Three Broomsticks to meet the guys.  
  
~*~*~*~Draco's POV~*~*~*~  
  
~*~*~Earlier~*~*~  
  
The guys all went into the robes shop and had their dress robes within 15minutes. Knowing that they still had at least 45minutes they decided to go to the Quidditch shop in town.  
  
"You know, even though I despised her earlier this year, I don't think there's anyone I would rather take to the ball but Ginny" Blaise told them as they looked at the newest broom.  
  
"I totally agree. Although Padma and I have been going out since the end of last year, I don't think there's anyone I would rather take but her," Justin said.  
  
Draco appeared to be studying the broom really hard, so as not to say anything.  
  
'What would I say' he thought, 'that I'm madly in love with her and would like nothing better than for Mia to feel the same way?'  
  
Apparently the other two had noticed how quiet Draco was being throughout their conversation.  
  
"Hey, Draco man? What are your views?" Blaise asked.  
  
"Yeah, anyone who would rather take than Mia?" Justin said to him.  
  
"Honestly, no. I wouldn't dream of taking another girl to the ball or any ball for that matter" Draco told them.  
  
"Whoa man. Really?" Blaise asked his eyes wide.  
  
"Yeah, I think I might love her."  
  
"Whoa, now that's something I never thought I'd hear from Draco Malfoy. Are you totally serious?" Justin asked him.  
  
"Yeah, I guess I am and I didn't think I knew how to feel it anyway. I've never felt it and its never really been givin' except for before my mom was put under the Imperius."  
  
"Draco, does Mia know this? Like the part about you liking her?" Blaise inquired.  
  
"Hell no. I don't want to risk putting anymore pressure on her; she doesn't need it right now." Draco told them as they headed out. "Hey, come on I need to get her a birthday present. Her birthdays on the first and I think she could use it."  
  
"I know her birthdays on the first, Draco. We've known for a while. Ginny told us in September and we've had her gifts since 2 Hogsmeade trips ago" Justin told him.  
  
"Well thanks for telling me you two. Well come on, lets go in here" he said, stopping outside of a jewellery shop.  
  
"What are you looking for exactly?" Blaise inquired after about 20 minutes of looking. "We have to meet the girls in 15 minutes and the Three Broomsticks is on the other side of town"  
  
"Oh, we have at least 20min-half an hour. The girls are DRESS shopping. Since when does that only take an hour?" Draco asked him without looking up from where he was examining some promise rings.  
  
He moved down a little and saw something he quite liked. "Besides I think I found what I'm looking for.' He called the saleswomen over and made his purchase. The three emerged from the store, Draco with a big smile on his face, and made their way to meet the girls before going back to the school.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Hey! Very boring chapter to write! I hope you guys liked it though!  
  
Thanks to Spaced Out Space Cadet, Harmony: Silver*Angel, Firehottie, DrAcOLuVeR79, GGJ for the awesome reviews and anyone else who I may have forgotten as these are from memory.  
  
Pure Mudblood ∧ proud of it! 


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9 Getting Ready  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters only the storyline and any of the story that I borrowed I will give them credit in that chapter at the end or the disclaimers in the following chapters. Enjoy and be as honest as possible in reviews without being downright mean  
  
~*~*~*~Draco's POV~*~*~*~  
  
(Back at school)  
  
"Come on Hermione, let me see you dress" Draco pleaded with her for the millionth time since they had met at the Three Broomsticks the previous afternoon.  
  
"I told you, no! That's final. You can wait until tonight to see. Now hurry up and move, we were supposed to be at their common room like 10minutes ago" she told him.  
  
"They cant start without us anyway, we have everything" Hhe said poking his head out of the bathroom. He had his toothbrush sticking out of his mouth.  
  
"Draco , COME ON! I want to get it finished so that its over with!"  
  
"I'm coming woman!" he told her with a smirk as he stepped out of the bathroom.  
  
"I would kill you but A)I don't have time, B) that would leave me with all the Head duties, C) it would leave me dateless tonight and D) I wouldn't get my birthday present" she said smirking back at him.  
  
"And I'm sure that none of it has to do with my looks" he informed her sarcastically.  
  
"You think to much of yourself. Oh well I'll just have to deflate that big head of yours one day. Now MOVE!"  
  
They left the common room and headed for the Prefects. They had to decorate the Great Hall by 3 and they had a lot to do. The ball didn't start until 6 but the girls needed time to get ready. Also Dumbledore wanted to give the house elves time to set out all the food. Draco couldn't wait until that night.  
  
"Everlasting life in death" he said to the portrait.  
  
"Hey what took so long? You said you'd be here in like 10minutes, 20minutes ago" Padma told them.  
  
"I know, but someone took 8minutes to brush their teeth" Hermione told them.  
  
"Hey! Perfect teeth come with a price you know!" Draco told them defensively.  
  
"O well, lets go get started" Blaise interjected before it turned into a big argument between the two.  
  
They all left and headed to the Great Hall.  
  
~*~*~4hours later~*~*~  
  
"Come on lets leave or I'll be sick of this place before the ball!" Draco informed everyone.  
  
"Uh-huh" Hermione got out in the middle of a yawn.  
  
"WE have to get our stuff from our rooms, so we'll meet you guys in your common room in like 15minutes ok" Justin said.  
  
"M'k, you know the password" Draco said as he and Hermione turned down the corridor to their common room.  
  
"I'm sooo tired Draco" Hermione said leaning into him.  
  
"Me too. You can always take a nap before the ball, you still have three hours."  
  
"Do you seriously think that Ginny and Padma would let me sleep. They have insisted on making me over for tonight and they don't care if they have to body-bind me to do so" she informed him. "I so don't want make-up, I don't need it and its ssoo not me!" she groaned.  
  
"Come on. Its only once, I think you'll live" Draco told her.  
  
"NO I wont! You don't understand, I haven't worn makeup and a dress since like, I cant even remember! It's my thing! I will DIE!!"  
  
"You mean you don't even want to dress up for me?" he asked smirking. "I mean, if I were a girl, I would want to dress up for a prince."  
  
"Well, I'm not so sure if your not a girl. You sure have the attitude of one" she informed him sticking out her tongue.  
  
"Mia, that's not nice!" Draco whined.  
  
"And whoever said I'm nice? Serpents Lioness" she said to the portrait.  
  
" No one and if they did I have no clue where they got the idea. I mean you're a total ice queen, sweetie" he told her sarcastically.  
  
"Thanks, your such a great friend, drama queen!" she retorted rolling her eyes.  
  
"You so did not just call me a queen?"  
  
"Yes, you know I believe I did call you a queen."  
  
"I'm gonna kill you."  
  
"Hey, wait until after the ball will you, Draco. I would like to see her live until that at least" Justin said as they came in.  
  
"Besides, don't you want to see her all pretty?" Padma asked him.  
  
"She's fine the way she is, thanks" came tumbling out before he could stop it.  
  
"Ummm, thanks Draco, I think" Hermione told him slightly confused.  
  
"Yeah.Well shouldn't you girls get to work? You only have 3 and a half hours left" Blaise said noticing how uncomfortable his friends looked.  
  
"But it WILL NOT take that long, will it?" Hermione asked turning to her friends with wide eyes.  
  
"Hate to break it to you, but yes it will. We have make-up, hair, dress and finishing touches and there being three of us and two of us are doing you, it will take longer than usual" Ginny informed her.  
  
"Oh Man! That's not fair! I never agreed to get made over! You guys threatened me!" Hermione whined.  
  
"Yes we did. And Mia, we're holding to that PROMISE! We will body bind you if we have to!"  
  
"Fine!" she grumbled as she started up to her room, with Ginny and Padma trailing.  
  
"I feel so sorry for Mia," Blaise said, "I would kill someone if they ever tried anything like that to me!"  
  
"I totally agree, but it doesn't look like she's getting out of it any time soon. Look we have like 2 and a half hours before we have to get ready, you want to play exploding snap?"  
  
After the others agreed, they all went up the stairs to play in his room. It was going to be a very long 2 hours.  
  
~*~*~*~Hermione's POV~*~*~*~  
  
"This isn't fair!" Hermione complained to the two girls in front of her.  
  
"Life isn't fair, Mia. Now shut up and close your eyes" Padma told her.  
  
Hermione closed her eyes as Padma out the finishing touches on her eye shadow. She had been stuck here for almost 3 grueling hours with these girly girls making her look 'pretty' as they had put it. In her opinion they were making her look worse, even if they hadn't let her see yet.  
  
She finally was allowed to put on her dress. She looked in the mirror when she was totally done and gasped. She didn't look ugly but quite pretty actually. Ginny and Padma had put a charm on her black streaks so that they appeared a shimmery silver and had put a light layer of matching silver eye shadow. They had charmed her brown eyes to look like a blue-silver in certain lights, while they were their natural color in others. They had put tight ringlets throughout the top layer of her hair and left the rest just slightly wavy. All that and a little clear lip gloss and she was totally ready.  
  
"I don't think you guys could've done better" she told them still in total shock.  
  
"I don't think we could've either, besides you have to look pretty the day before you turn eighteen and don't forget you want to look perfect for Draco tonight" Padma said while getting Ginny to zip her dress up.  
  
Hermione blushed. "Hey Mia, you don't LIKE him, do you? Like as more than a friend" Ginny asked seeing the blush on her friends face.  
  
"Ummm.can I not answer?" Hermione asked, blushing even deeper.  
  
"OMG! You do! You like him don't you?" Padma said her eyes wide.  
  
"Oh, look at the time guys, we should really get down there as we're supposed to be there a bit early for the opening dance" Hermione said, totally avoiding the question.  
  
"Okay, we'll let it slide for now Mia. But be warned, we will interrogate this farther, understand?" Ginny informed her.  
  
"Yeah, yeah" Hermione grumbled, starting to slip back into her evilish moods again. "Come on, the guys are probably already waiting for us" she told them heading out of her room, with Ginny and Padma trailing" ~*~*~*~Nobody's/Everybody's POV~*~*~*~ (make sense)  
  
The girls descended the stairs together. The guys couldn't take their eyes off their dates.  
  
'Oh my god! Is she ever beautiful' went through each of their minds as they met the girls at the bottom of the stairs.  
  
Draco went up to Hermione and took her hand in his and placed a small kiss on her knuckles. "You look dazzling Mia" he told her, leading her towards the portrait hole.  
  
"Thanks, you don't look so bad yourself"  
  
"Yes, I know. I always look fabulous" he said in his aristocratic tone.  
  
"Get your nose out of the clouds Malfoy. You DO NOT always look good okay? Got it?"  
  
"You're just trying to ruin my fun" he said, while playful glaring. "Anyway, what are the chances of you looking like this more often?"  
  
"Like nothing! Come on, I like big, baggy and black. This is none of the above. And if you ever, I repeat ever, tell anyone that I complimented you tonight, beyond the other 4 that is, you better dig a grave!" Hermione threatened as the group arrived at the Great Hall. The doors opened to show many people already there, but none turned to see who was there until Dumbledore announced that the Prefects and Heads had arrived for the first dance.  
  
What each person saw, however, they never expected.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10 Ball and Mia's Birthday  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters only the storyline and any of the story that I borrowed I will give them credit in that chapter at the end or the disclaimers in the following chapters. Enjoy and be as honest as possible in reviews without being downright mean  
  
~*~*~*~Draco's POV~*~*~*~  
  
"The looks on their faces are absolutely priceless" Draco told Hermione under his breath.  
  
"Yeah, we should really have done this sooner" she said back.  
  
The hall had gone totally silent, as Dumbledore had announced their arrival and their dates. It appeared that they had expected 5 different couples to walk in, not 3. (A/N: Remember Padma and Justin are dating). There was a big gasp, however, when it was announced that Hermione and Draco were a pair.  
  
While yes, everyone knew that they had become good friends; they had never thought that Draco Malfoy would take a 'mudblood' to the dance.  
  
Draco found this greatly amusing. He glanced around the crowd and saw Pansy looking ready to kill, ye6t faint at the same time. She had been bugging him incessantly since the ball had been announced, expecting him to ask her. When he refused time after time, she thought that it meant that he was going alone or maybe another Slytherin or he would just surprise her and ask her last minute. This, apparently, she had never expected. He was able to contain his laughter but with great difficulty.  
  
He saw Blaise glance at him with a questioning look. All Draco was able to do was nod his head in Pansy's general direction and when Blaise saw her he seemed to have a harder time containing his own laughter. He took Ginny by the hand and went over and tapped Justin on the shoulder, to let him know what was so funny.  
  
The 6 of them all looked like they would collapse with laughter. Dumbledore cleared his throat, and the hall went silent, even if the 'role models' looked ready to explode with laughter. "Welcome all! I just want to wish you all a good a good evening and without further ado, let the Heads and Prefects come to the center, so that we can start the ball"  
  
Draco took Hermione the hand and led her to the center, the others behind him. With a flick of his wand Dumbledore started the music. Draco put a hand on Hermione's waist and the other held hers. (A/N: The following will switch Points of View, But it will go back to Draco's POV when the song is over)  
  
~*~*~ There you go Flashing fever from your eyes Hey baby Come over here and shut them tight I'm not denying We're flying above it all Hold my hand Don't let me fall You've such amazing grace I've never felt this way ~*~*~  
  
Draco looked Hermione in the face and saw, for the first time, nothing but pure joy. She looked genuinely happy to be there and he wished that this moment would never end so that he could always see her like this.  
  
He pushed slightly on her waist, indicating that he wanted her to turn.  
  
~*~*~ Ohhh, show me heaven Cover me Leave me breathless Ohh show me heaven please ~*~*~  
  
Hermione looked Draco in the eyes and thought she saw something different in them. She saw love and caring, beyond friendship. She smiled at him, and the only thing going through her mind was 'I love him'.  
  
~*~*~ Here I go I'm shaking just like the breeze Hey baby I need your hand to steady me I'm not denying I'm frightened as much as you Though I'm barely touching you I've shivers down my spine and it feels divine ~*~*~  
  
Draco pulled her in from another spin and he noticed that she still wore the smile that she had been wearing a couple minutes before. The smile lit up her entire face and she couldn't have looked better if she tried.  
  
He looked her in the eyes and suddenly realized that what he had said to Justin and Blaise at the broom shop yesterday had been nothing but the truth. He was in love with Hermione Granger.  
  
~*~*~ Ohh show me heaven Cover me Leave me breathless Ohh show me heaven please  
  
Do you know what its like to dream a dream Baby, hold me tight and let this be ~*~*~  
  
Hermione saw a look of realization flash across Draco's face only to be replaced quickly with a warm smile at her. She knew then that there was something more to this then she had ever anticipated.  
  
Yes, she loved him, and she could tell that there was something that he felt towards her but she was terrified to ever let him close. She had been hurt to much over the last while to know if she could ever trust anyone with her heart like that again, but she decided to just be happy for the moment, and relish in Draco's happiness.  
  
~*~*~ Ohh show me heaven Cover me Leave me breathless Ohh show me heaven please ~*~*~  
  
The song ended and Draco led Hermione off the dance floor. The 6 of them found a table and sat down to eat. They talked and ate for about 40minutes before Draco asked Hermione to dance again.  
  
They dance until around midnight, when Ginny gave Draco the signal that they were leaving.  
  
"Mia, come on lets get out of here" Draco whispered it her ear.  
  
"Why? I'm having fun" Hermione whined.  
  
"Because, there's a surprise waiting for you back at the common room" Draco told her with a mischievous grin.  
  
"Draco Malfoy! Tell me what right this instant!" she demanded.  
  
"NO, now come on or you'll never know and I'll just leave you here for the rest of your life, wondering what it could have been" he said while starting to move away.  
  
"Alright! Fine! I'll come!" she said giving in and walking to accept the hand he extended for her.  
  
"Please tell me!" Hermione whined.  
  
"I said No! You'll just have to wait until we get there!" he said smirking evilly.  
  
It went on like this until they reached the common room.  
  
"Evening Anca, Steven" Draco greeted, "is it safe yet?"  
  
"Good evening you two. Yes it is" Steven answered.  
  
"Have fun, you two" Anca told them.  
  
"We will, Serpents Lioness" Draco said with a smile.  
  
"Draco, does everyone but me know what's going on?" Hermione asked, slightly annoyed.  
  
"Yea, but that could do with the fact that this is a surprise for YOU!" he informed her.  
  
They stepped through the portrait hole and Draco looked at Hermione's face when she saw what they had planned. Ginny, Blaise, Padma and Justin all stood in front of a big banner with 'Happy 18th Birthday Mia' across it. Hermione looked like she was about to faint.  
  
"Oh my god you guys! I cant believe you did this!" she said awestruck.  
  
When she recovered a bit she looked at what they were wearing. They weren't in formal anymore. "Hey, if you get to change so do I!" she informed them, already walking towards the staircase.  
  
"I'm going to change to, we'll be right back" Draco told them, going up the staircase to his room.  
  
He emerged a couple minutes later with forest green cotton pyjama pants and his serpent hoodie, that had a black shirt underneath. Just as he was heading down the stairs he saw Hermione energe from her room in black silk PJ pants as well as her serpent hoodie her hair and eyes back to normal and her make-up gone.  
  
They made it to the bottom of each of their staircases and headed ove to the group.  
  
~*~*~*~Hermione's POV~*~*~*~  
  
'I cant believe that they did this for me'  
  
She couldn't have been more surprised or happy, two things that she was not used to feeling. She was hit with a sudden realization, she didn't Harry and Ron friends anymore and they hadn't been close for awhile. The people in front of her were her friends now and she couldn't ask for anyone better.  
  
She loved the fact that after 2 months they had become close enough to be family and in their eyes they were family. This thought gave her a warm feeling and she she noticed that the wall she had built, crumbled when she was around them.  
  
She put a huge smile on her face and felt even happier when Blaise and Justin walked up and gave her a hug. Each of her friends walked up and gave her a hug wishing her a happy birthday and telling her that they loved her.  
  
They started chatting about meaningless things until like 1am. Then each of her friends got up and grabbed the gifts that they had brought with them.  
  
From Ginny she got a shirt the had 'I may look like a good girl, but you don't know me so don't judge, because under this I'm nothing but Pure Evil' and another pair of black silk pyjama pants with little snakes all over them. "Thanks Gin, I love them" she said hugging her friend, a smile across her face still.  
  
From Padma she got the complete set of books by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes; a muggle author (A/N: While no reading isn't Hermione favorite thing anymore she still enjoys it and these books are like based around things like vampires, witches, etc.I highly recommend them), as well as some cocunut scented shampoo and conditioner. "How'd you know that I like cocanut?" she asked giving Padma a hug.  
  
"Sources" Padma answered vaguely, smirking.  
  
"Ok, we've all been hanging out with Draco and Blaise to much" Hermione said while taking the gift Justin handed her.  
  
Justin got her a small sculpture of a snake made of emerald glass and a green frame with the words 'best friends' across the bottom. In the frame was a picture that they had had one of the Creevey brothers take right after Gryffindor and Slytherin had played the first Quidditch game of the year, Slytherin winning for the first time. The group would have usually cheered for Gryffindor but in light of recent events and the fact that two of their best friends had been on the team, they choose to cheer for Slytherin. She smiled at the memory and leaned forward, giving Justin a hug and thanking him for the gift.  
  
Next, she opened the gift that Blaise had just handed her. In it she found a white hoodie with, you'll never guess, a green snake on it. "I noticed how much you liked the other on and I thought you needed a new one" he told her shrugging. Also in it there was a new pair of black jeans with a snake patch on the back pocket and a black shirt with 'I'm Nothing But Evil' written on it. "I Love it Blaise thanks" she said, hugging him as well.  
  
"That leaves one person, Mr.Malfoy, may I have my gift?" she asked in an arrogant tone.  
  
"You know, I totally forgot it was your birthday, so I didn't get you anything" he said smirking.  
  
"I'm so sure, hand it over or I will hurt you and you know I could" she said in a threatening voice.  
  
"Okay, okay. Although theres no way on earth you could hurt me, you know I would never forget your birthday" he told her, handing over his gift.  
  
Hermione opened the neatly wrapped box to reveal 6 chains and rings sitting on a small velvet cushion. Each chain had a ring attached as well as a pendent. On four the pendant contains a lion and serpent, while the other two contained a raven and a badger. The chains and rings were silver and engraved on the rings were the words 'Friends for Life' and on the inside was each house animal and their her friends names.  
  
"Draco." she started but found herself totally speechless. She just leaned over and pulled him into a huge embrace and didn't let go for a good 3 minutes. "I love them."  
  
"I know that it is YOUR birthday but I thought that this was the perfect gift and I knew that we considered each other family, so I guess it just seemed appropiate" Draco said, looking extremely pleased that his gift had gone over so nicely.  
  
"It is perfect. In fact all your gifts were perfect and I don't think I could ask for better friends" she said, looking at the smiling faces of her friends.  
  
"Mia, you know that we love you and that you love us. There's nothing to replaces the bond we created and nothing WILL EVER replace it" Justin said going forward to pull her into another hug, "Happy Birthday Mia".  
  
Blaise came forward next, "Justin's right, we're family and there's no getting rid of us ever, you hear?. Happy Birthday Mia, may it bring you love and joy and happiness!"  
  
Each of the girls stepped forward at the same time, pulling their friend into a huge hug. "Mia, you know that I've always thought of you as the sister I never had and I'm closer to you and the rest of these guys then the rest of my family and you are my family, I love you Mia, Happy Birthday" Ginny said right before pulling away.  
  
"I'll love you as more then a friend and more as a sister forever and always Mia, have a Happy Birthday and I promise that each of us will be there at all times throughout your life to help you" Padma said with tears in her eyes.  
  
Draco was again the last one, "Mia, your one of my best friends, as well as I consider you a part of my family, like I do the rest, but Mia I want us to be more, I want us to last for eternity and I want us to be together for life but in order for that to happen I have to take the first step and ask and have you except. I have to ask if you would go out with me Mia?"  
  
Hermione could do nothing but nod, that look of pure joy still on her face as it had been all night. Draco pulled her into a huge hug and whispered to her "Happy Birthday Mia, may all your dreams and wishes come true, I love you". Then he pulled back and placed a small kiss on her lips. Nothing major, just a small soft caress but it meant the world and more to her, and she knew that she would never forget it.  
  
Finally Draco stepped back and the others all looked ecstatic. Theres were things like 'its about time' and 'what took you two so long' floating around the room as they all started to congratulate them.  
  
"Thanks you guys but I need to do something. I believe that there are some chains and rings that I have to give out, is there not?" Hermione said with a huge smile on her face.  
  
"Draco, would you do the honors and put mine on for me?" she asked him.  
  
"Sure" he answered reaching into the box for a lion/serpent one. He undid the clasp and reached around her and grabbed the other end, doing the clasp up again at the back.  
  
"Now, since it's my gift I get to put them on you guys, is that ok?" she questioned. Everyone nodded and started to come forward one by one. First Ginny, the Padma, Justin, Draco and then Blaise. They had each decided to wear the ring on the chain so that there was little chance of losing it.  
  
"You must all promise to never remove these, deal?" Hermione asked.  
  
"Agreed, never to be removed, not even in death" the chorused.  
  
"What I would like to know is how you got 6 Draco, because when Justin and I were with you, you only bought two. One for you and one for Mia" Blaise said to his friend.  
  
"Well it wouldn't be much of a surprise if you knew I got them, now would it?" Draco told him in a smart voice, "I told the owner to owl them to me"  
  
"True." he trailed off when an owl came through a window and towards Hermione. "Now who would owl you at this time of night, Mia? Its 2 in the morning"  
  
Hermione went absolutely white when the owl came through the window. The only person that had ever owled her this late at night was her 'father' and they were never good.  
  
"Mia, its not from who you think its from," Justin assured, remembering that her father tended to send them late.  
  
"Mia, its someone in the school, it's a school owl" Draco reassured.  
  
"Still, I want someone else to open it" Hermione said, some of the color returning to her face.  
  
Blaise, took it after finally cluing in and opened. "Guys, it's to all of us, well most of it anyway. It's from Dumbledore, saying that there's something important that he has to discuss with Mia but thinks that we should all be present as she'll need some support, but it doesn't say what for. He wants us all there at 10tomoorow morning, so after breakfast. Oh, and he wishes you a Happy Birthday Mia" Blaise said summing up the letter instead of reading the whole thing.  
  
"What could it be over though? Theres nothing wrong, is there Mia?" Draco questioned turning to his new girlfriend.  
  
"Not that I know of" she answered back. "But frankly I don't want to talk about it, but there's no way I want to spend the night alone. I'll be up all nigt trying to figure it out"  
  
"Why don't we just summon up some beds and we can all stay here tonight" Ginny suggested, "I'm to tired to walk back anyway, we've been up since 7 this morning"  
  
The others agreed and with one lick of her wand the room was clean and all her gifts were neatly piled in the corner, out of harms way. With a second flick three double beds appeared, "I assume your okay sleeping two to a bed tonight" she stated rather than asked, and with a final flick everyone was in their normal pyjamas.  
  
The girls all in pants and T-shirts and the boys in boxers. Apparently what Draco had on originally wasn't what he slept in. They each hugged goodnight and climbed into a bed.  
  
Padma and Justin in one, Ginny and Blaise in another and Hermione and Draco in the final. They all said good night and Draco leaned forward and gave Hermione a small kiss before putting an arm around her waste and holding her close, as if, if her let her go she would never come back.  
  
The meeting became completely forgotten as Hermione drifted off to sleep. In one hand she grasped the ring and in the other, Draco's had, and she was perfectly content to never move again.  
  
They all fell into a dreamless, yet happy sleep, knowing that when they woke up, the one they loved would be beside them and that their family would surround them. They had become closer than anything that night and not one thought anything could ever tear them apart. That they would stand strong and that they would all support Mia tomorrow, no matter what news she got. They had promised to give her comfort, and she was going to get just that. 


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11 Dumbledore's Meeting  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters only the storyline and any of the story that I borrowed I will give them credit in that chapter at the end or the disclaimers in the following chapters. Enjoy and be as honest as possible in reviews without being downright mean.  
  
There is an idea, you could call it, later in this chapter that's been used before but the main inspiration came from Slytherin Girl (author of I Wont Walk Away) and I do have permission to use the idea as long as I give due credit. I'll be more specific later on though as I don't wish to give it away!  
  
A/N: Hey all readers, I know that its next to impossible to read and understand the last three chapters due to the little sign thingy's that replaces all quotation marks. I am however writing the next few chapters, whether fanfic.net is messed up or not, so please just bare with it until it's fixed! Thanks, now on with the story.  
  
~*~*~*~Draco's POV~*~*~*~  
  
Draco woke up the next morning starring at a blank spot in the bed. He looked around and saw that everyone was already up and out of bed.  
  
"Hey Draco, I thought you would never wake up," Blaise said walking down the stairs from his room. "Hope you don't mind, but Justin and I had nowhere to change, so we took turns in yours" he explained when he saw Draco's questioning look.  
  
"Let me guess, girls took over the bathroom?" Draco asked.  
  
"Yeah, Hermione is just changing in her room, and Ginny and Padma have been in the bathroom for the last 20 minutes. Justin just ran to the common room for something." As if on cue, Justin walked through the portrait hole, pulling a sweatshirt over his head.  
  
"Morning Draco, we really should ask Dumbledore for another portrait connecting our common rooms after the meeting with him" Justin said, " we're always going between them if we forget something, anyway. It's a waste of energy. Shouldn't you be dressed, we have like half an hour to eat and get to the meeting?" he questioned, raising an eyebrow.  
  
"Shit, why didn't you guys wake me?" Draco exclaims, jumping off the bed and running up the stairs to his room.  
  
"Because I told them not to" Hermione answered, walking out of her room in her jeans, the 'I'm Nothing but Evil' t-shirt, and her white serpent hoodie was hanging on her arm, "you were sleeping to peacefully and I've seen what your like when someone wakes you up, you almost killed me when I did in September."  
  
"Yeah, but you still should've woken me, I'd like to have time to eat before the meeting you know" he said with a small pout.  
  
"Oh Draco, stop complaining," Padma told him as she and Ginny walked out of the bathroom, "and if you really want to eat then you'd better hurry up and get dressed or the foods going to be all gone."  
  
"I'm going, I'm going," he grumbled going up the stairs.  
  
~*~*~  
  
When he walked out of his room 5 minutes later, he had on black jeans, a black t-shirt and was pulling on a gray hoodie. He descended the stairs to hear Hermione telling the others some story.  
  
"Come on you guys, lets go eat." They all turned around to face him with stupid expressions on their faces. "What?" he asked, a confused look crossing his features.  
  
"Draco's the best and I will love him forever, and cant wait to be married to him? Really, nice shirt there that Parkinson gave you Draco, man. Why didn't you ever tell me about it?" Blaise asked faking hurt, "Or about how she tried to break in here so that she could see you? Or about the time that she owled your parents, asking permission to marry you. Or-"  
  
Draco cut him off in horror, "Hermione, I told you those things in confidence, how could you tell them?" he demanded.  
  
"I-they-" but she broke off and fell into fits of laughter, bringing the others with her.  
  
Draco scowled at them. He couldn't believe Hermione told them, those were personal. He turned on his heel and headed out of the common room.  
  
"O, I think we bruised his ego guys" Ginny said, getting her laughter under control, "maybe we should get Parkinson to boost it again." With that they burst into fresh peels of laughter.  
  
"Your MEAN! You understand me M-E-A-N, mean!" Draco told them pouting by the door. "Now, if your done making fun of me, we might have time to go to the Great Hall and grab a muffin or some fruit, seeing as we have to be at the meeting in FIFTEEN MINUTES"  
  
That quickly shut up the other five. They all stood frozen for a moment, their eyes wide, before rushing out of the portrait hole. They all ran down the corridors and burst into the Great Hall. Every face in the Great Hall turned to face them as the entered, trying to catch their breath.  
  
All of a sudden Draco burst into laughter. It caught on and the 6 just stood there laughing like idiots, getting weird looks from everyone in the Hall. No one could figure out what was so funny, but whatever it was the six seemed to find it really amusing.  
  
Finally, they started to settle down and they noticed that all the eyes in the Hall were on them.  
  
"What, haven't you ever seen anyone laugh before" Hermione asked them.  
  
"Yeah, you'd think that we were like weird or insane or something from the looks your all giving us" Ginny said.  
  
"Ginny, I hate to break this to you, but, hun, we ARE insane, beyond insane, like we belong in the psychiatric ward at St.Mungos insane" Justin told her.  
  
"He's right Gin, we are beyond insane and there's nothing that we can do about it" Blaise said.  
  
"Yes, but no one needs to know that guys. I mean I would like to let people think I'm semi-sane thank you," Ginny told them, before bursting into laughter with them all again.  
  
"Well, I see that our Heads and Prefects are in good moods this morning" Dumbledore said, everyone turning to face him. "I think that you should all take a hint from them and have a good day!"  
  
Finally the laughter subsided in the six and they all walked over to the Gryffindor table because it appeared to have the most food left.  
  
"Hermione, are you ok?" Dean asked as they all sat down.  
  
"Yes, quite good. Insane but good" Hermione answered him with a grin on her face.  
  
"Alright, well I'll talk to you later" he said turning to leave with Seamus.  
  
"Hey guys, I think we scared them," Padma said.  
  
"You know, I believe we did" Justin told her, while picking up an apple.  
  
"Yes, well, we must have looked pretty weird, bursting in here and then all the sudden bursting into laughter" Draco mused.  
  
"You know, we probably did, but what do they care, we're weird and proud of it too" Blaise told them.  
  
"Come on grab something to eat and lets get to the meeting. Dumbledore just left" Hermione informed them.  
  
They all grabbed a couple muffins or a couple pieces of fruit, and headed out of the hall together.  
  
"Anyone got any idea what so ever what this meetings all about? I mean all it said in the letter is that he had something to tell Mia but thought we should be there for support," Blaise inquired as they approached Dumbledore's office.  
  
"No clue, but I'm anxious to find out yet I'm kind of worried, I mean what if my sisters been hurt or something like that?" Hermione asked.  
  
"Mia, he would of came and told you last night if it was anything like that" Ginny assured her friend. "Now, lets go in so we can find out"  
  
"Mia, its going to be okay, Ginny's right, if it was anything like that he would have told you last night" Draco told her, while putting a comforting arm around her waist, "besides, no matter what it is, we're here to support you no matter what"  
  
"Draco's right Mia. We will be here no matter what. Sugar Quills"  
  
The gargoyles jumped aside as Blaise said the password. The six headed up the staircase towards Dumbledore's office, all wanting to know what was going on.  
  
~*~*~*~Hermione's POV~*~*~*~  
  
Hermione was shaking as they entered his office.  
  
"Ahh, Good Morning!" Dumbledore greeted, "I trust your having a good birthday Miss Granger?"  
  
"Yes sir" Hermione answered.  
  
"Please sit" Dumbledore said gesturing to the couches that had apparently been conjured just for this meeting. Occupying one of the couches were Professors McGonagall and Snape. The six took seats at the other 2, Draco, Hermione and Blaise on one and Padma, Justin and Ginny on the other.  
  
"I suppose your all wondering why you're here?"  
  
"Yes sir" they replied in unison.  
  
"Well, this is a matter that mainly concerns Miss Granger but it is something that might shake her up. I thought that she should have the comfort of her friends when she gets this news. Also, I believe that you should all be aware of it, as it will probably affect the way she works and also acts for a while. She might pull away from you all but I must impress that she should not be alone. The Professors here already know, and they will do what they can to help her with this but it is important that you five know what's going on and help her in anyway you can."  
  
"Yes sir" the five nodded.  
  
"Sir, if you don't mind my asking, why are we here? I mean isn't it something that could've waited until the next meeting, which is in two days?" Hermione questioned.  
  
"Ahh, Miss Granger, I believe I forgot to inform you that I cant make the next meeting as I will be away on business for the day. As for your other question I was just about to get to that, but first do you need anything, any of you because you could be here for a little while?"  
  
They all shook their head and he continued. "Ok, lets start at the beginning. About 19 years ago, there was a couple that was very much in love. They were newly weds and there wasn't much that they could ask for. They had everything, a house, supportive family and friends and each other. Only thing missing from the picture was a child of their own. About two months later they found out that she was pregnant, and they couldn't have been more overjoyed. They got everything ready, the child's room, everything charmed so that it was safe for a child, clothes, everything possible that the child would ever need or want."  
  
At this point Hermione looked around to see if anyone saw where this was going. Her friends, however, all looked as confused as she was. When she looked at the Professors she saw that McGonagall looked a little sad but there was an emotion showing in Snape's eyes that Hermione couldn't place. She shrugged it off and turned back to Dumbledore's story.  
  
"They gave birth to a baby girl in November of that year. She was treated like a princess. She had everything imaginable. She was loved greatly by both family and friends. There was one however that became very attached to the little girl. Her Uncle was always there with her when her parents were at work. He cared for her as his own and his love ran deep. About 7 months after her birth, her parents were killed at the hands of Voldemort. Both had come from huge Dark Lord supporting families, but they refused to join. She was sent to live with her Uncle, but as he was a follower of the 'Dark Lord' he had to leave her with baby sitters quite often. Finally, one night, the Dark Lord fell and the magical world was left in shambles. Her Uncle returned to her and spent every moment with her for a little over a month, but decided it would be safer for her in another family. One where she would have a mother and a father that loved her implicitly and would give her anything and everything. He took her to a muggle adoption agency. Because of her family, people knew that she would be a very strong witch but would probably turn to the Dark Side. This was something her Uncle could not handle"  
  
Hermione eyes grew wide, as she had a feeling where this was going, but she didn't say anything. She wanted to hear the rest of the story, so she grabbed a hold of her necklace and leaned into Draco, while Dumbledore continued.  
  
" When she was a little over a year old she was adopted into a family. They loved her to no end and they did absolutely everything for her. Her Uncle was never informed that she had been adopted out and for all he knew she could've been dead. Miss Granger from the look on your face, I think already know where this is going, would you like to finish the story yourself?" Dumbledore inquired.  
  
Hermione nodded and started to speak, her voice shaking a bit. "Well, if I'm right, the girl was adopted into a loving family and eventually she got a little sister. However, the summer before her 18th birthday, her mother died in a car accident. Her father blamed her and started beating her. He made her believe that she was worthless and that she was never loved anyway. When she returned to school she lost her best friends of 6 years but quickly gained 5 new ones, and she started learning how to let the wall down around her heart. If I'm not mistaken the girl that you're talking about is me, correct?" she finished, with tears rolling down her cheeks. When her father had told her that she wasn't his daughter, he hadn't been lying, she wasn't his daughter and never would be.  
  
She was sitting up stiffly, as if scarred to hear the answer to her last question. Blaise and Draco both leaned in and put a comforting arm around her. They other 5 were having a hard time digesting this information, but when they all looked at Hermione, they noticed that she had no color in her face.  
  
"You are correct Miss Granger, you are that child, but do have any idea about your past family? Like who it could be?" Dumbledore questioned her, only receiving a shake of her head.  
  
"My dear, you have known your uncle for the past 6 years. I do not believe he had any idea who you were until recently, however." he trailed off, when he saw Hermione go into a fetal position and start rocking. As Headmaster he knew exactly what was coming. She was gearing up to lash out. He looked at her friends' faces and saw them become increasingly worried about her.  
  
'Oh my god! This is not happening to me' Hermione thought to her self. Images of her father's angry face flashed through her head. The firs beating, how he had yelled at her and started punching and kicking her, no mercy. Adi had been at a friends place for the night so he carried on for a good hour and a half before he got tired. Her mothers picture flashed through her head. The woman laughing holding her little girl, her smiling, watching her daughters play in the yard and then her in her casket at her funeral. Finally, a single image of her sister, jumping up and down on her bed to get her up for her to get up and ready to go to the train station.  
  
Finally, the moment that her friends and Professor Dumbledore had been gearing up for came. She jumped off the couch, grabbed the first thing she could get her hands on and threw it. She yelled 'I hate him' with everything she threw. McGonagall looked extremely worried, and went to grab hold of the girl, when Dumbledore held up his hand, signaling to her the they should just let the girl alone, to get rid of her anger.  
  
After about 20 minutes, she finally collapsed, just like she had the last few times this had happened. Her friends went up and started comforting her after about another 10, as they didn't want to risk getting hurt.  
  
Snape, McGonagall and Dumbledore all suggested using a calming spell or potion on her, but her friends all refused. They told them that she was more likely to lash out again if she didn't calm down naturally. It took them a good 45 minutes before she was completely calm again, but they were all sure that she would lash out again.  
  
"Miss Granger are you sure your ok?" McGonagall asked her, worried.  
  
"Yes, Professor, I'm fine now" Hermione answered. A then she turned back t Dumbledore and apologized for what she had done to the office.  
  
"It's ok, its not the first time I've had a student throw things around my office, I'm just thankful that it wasn't at me this time" he told her with a small smile.  
  
Blaise spoke up, " Sir, how come you waited until today to tell her about this?"  
  
"Because, Mr Zambini, I was not aware of anything until last night. Contrary to popular belief, I do not know absolutely everything, just most things"  
  
"Sir," Padma began, "you never finished your story. You never told us who the uncle was. I mean, she's known him for 6 years right, but she had no idea and neither did he. So wouldn't that mean that she would've had to meet him in the wizarding world?"  
  
"Yes Miss Patil that would be correct. But I think that it is up to the Uncle to let her know who he is, I would like to speak to you 5 about something for the moment, but you will return to your rooms in a moment. Severus, would you please escort Miss Granger back to her common room and wait there with her until the others return"  
  
Snape nodded, then walked over to Hermione and held out his hand to help her get up. Hermione looked at her friends then accepted the hand.  
  
"We'll be there as quick as we can, we promise Mia" Justin assured her as she walked out of the office with Snape.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Hey, any ideas on who the Uncle is?? Probably pretty easy to guess, but I didn't feel like putting it in this chapter. I'm sorry if this chapter was not up to normal standards but I'm very tired and am very uncreative at the moment but I wanted t get this chapter out there. Also the Uncle idea is what I got from Slytherin Girl, I just haven't finished the whole idea yet! Lastly, if you want to be notified when I update, leave your email in your reviews.  
  
Thanks to . ' . , FTCWriter, lifes-mysteries18, gabbygirl for the reviews!  
  
Pure Mudblood ∧ proud of it! 


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12 Uncles and Presents  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters only the storyline and any of the story that I borrowed I will give them credit in that chapter at the end or the disclaimers in the following chapters. The Uncle thing came from Slytherin Girl when she used it in her story, 'I Wont Walk Away'. Also any Songs I use are not mine! Enjoy and be as honest as possible in reviews without being downright mean.  
  
A/N: I really hated the first CH12, so I left the beginning of it alone and changed the second part, after the break.  
  
~*~*~*~Mixed POV's~*~*~*~  
  
Professor Snape led Hermione down the corridors to the Head common room, and said the password, (A/N: He's Slytherin HOH so he knows the password if he ever need to talk to his student).  
  
Hermione was in a total daze. Her eyes were glazed over, but she had no more tears to shed and not enough energy to yell and scream.  
  
Professor Snape looked at the girl and was actually quite worried. He could see in her eyes that she was building that wall around her heart again. That wall that her friends had worked so hard to break, just to see it built up again in a matter of a couple of hours.  
  
He couldn't believe that the girl sitting in front of him was the same girl who had always had the answers. Who had always cared deeply for others and put full trust in them to help her. The girl who just this morning was laughing for no apparent reason. All he could see now was a stone cold gaze and a dull expressionless face.  
  
"Miss Granger, may I talk openly?" he asked, hiding all worry from his tone. He received a small nod from her and continued. "Do you have any idea who this original family was? Who your Uncle is?" he inquired.  
  
"No sir" Hermione replied in an emotionless voice. That voice was the one that he had heard from Draco so many times when he would try and talk to the boy and make sure he was all right after his father would just show up at the school to teach his son a 'lesson'.  
  
"The family was that of Sartan and Isabella Snape," he continued, searching her face for any sign she heard what he had just said. A small flash of surprise glittered across her expression, but was gone almost instantly. "Sartan was my brother, only a year older than I. He loved Isabella more then life itself and would do everything and anything for her. When she found out she was pregnant, he was absolutely glowing. He was one of the few Snape's that would show when he was feeling something other than anger."  
  
"When you were born, they named you Hermione Nacola Danica Snape. I fell instantly in love with you the first time I held you. You looked up at me with a huge smile on your tiny face. From that day on I was over almost every day just so I could see you." Hermione glanced up at Snape, and saw that he looked to be in some kind of trance, more reliving the story then just telling it.  
  
"When your parents died, I started to take care of you, but as you know I had to put you up for adoption, because the magical world wasn't safe for you. I didn't want you to be in any danger, so when I took you to the muggle adoption agency, they told me that I would be told when you were adopted out. Only I was never told. I thought that you were dead, and I didn't even know it was you when you came here six years ago. I noticed the name but thought it was just coincidence. I dint find out until yesterday when Dumbledore told me, right before he owled you. He wanted to make sure it was alright that you were told, as you could be in danger if you found out"  
  
"Obviously I told him to tell you, but I thought that it would be good for you to have some other support, and told him to have all six of you come. I, for the second time in my entire will admit, that I was scared. Scarred you would reject all the information, reject me, reject the fact that you were a pureblooded witch. I would do absolutely anything to go back and never give you up."  
  
He broke out of his trance and looked Hermione in the eyes. His eyes showed worry and fear. 'Fear of rejection' she thought. 'Funny, I never had that fear until this year, the fear that no one would speak to me'  
  
"Professor, thanks for the story and the honesty, but I need time. Time to let everything sink in. Time for me to get used to the idea. Time to relax and just sort out everything in my mind," she paused for a breath before continuing. " In the course of 4 months, I've lost the only mother that I've ever known, the only father I've ever known started beating me because of it, I lost my 2 best friends of six years and found out that I was adopted and still have an uncle. The fact that that uncle has been teaching me for six years and has been nothing but mean makes this a little harder to take in. give me time and I will come talk to you, I just cant right now" she finished.  
  
Snape had been watching her face throughout this entire speech and had yet to see it change from the stone cold expression that she had been holding. 'Well, I can see the Snape in her when she does that. Not many people I know can hold a single cold expression when they must be feeling like their whole world is falling down'  
  
"Ok, I understand that you need time, but just promise me that when you're feeling up to it you WILL come talk to me. I know I've been horrible over the years and there's nothing I can do now but say I'm sorry. The only explanation I can offer is that I only ever knew you as the know-it-all Gryffindor that befriended Harry Potter and Ron Weasley, both of who I cant stand. I just hope that you will accept my apology and try to get to know me. I'm the only Snape left, and I will do anything to make that change. I want to get to know you but I can't do that without your help"  
  
"Professor, I know your sorry and I completely get the explanation. If it had been me and I had someone like me walk into my class with friends like that I wouldn't be very nice either. I also promise to come talk to you when I feel I can, but for now I'm going up to my room. Will you do me a favor and tell the others where I am and that I just wish to sleep and not be bothered until dinner tonight."  
  
"I will do that, and thanks Hermione"  
  
"Your welcome Professor" she said with a nod and headed up for a well needed rest in her room.  
  
When she go there however, she found two things sitting on her bed that hadn't been there before. They were wrapped and had cards with them, but she knew right away who they were from. 'God, don't they know what the meaning of "I don't wish to communicate with you" means?'  
  
She picked up one of them anyway and started to open it. it was another picture frame, very similar to the one that Justin had given to her except it was red and gold. In it was a photo taken at the end of sixth year of the three friends laughing and hugging each other right before they left the train station. Shhe threw the phot aside and picked up the card that had been with it. It read:  
  
//Dear Mia//  
  
//I know that this is probably something that you don't want to see write  
now but I got this before the beginning of the year and thought that I would still give it to you to show that no matter what anyone says, I still  
see you as a best friend. This is just showing that there were amazing times in our friendship, no matter how it seemed to have ended. I know you  
said that you would eventually talk to us again, but I know or knew you anyway, and you have no intent whatsoever of that ever happening. So I wish a Happy Eighteenth Birthday and I wish youi all the luck in the world with  
the rest of your life.//  
  
//Yours Truly, Ronald Weasley//  
  
She starred at the note for a couple minutes, before realizing that he was right, she didn't haveany intent of ever going back to them. She looked at the photo and took it and set it on her dresser. While she couldn't stand to look at them, she couldn't bear to trash the it, as they had, after all, been best friends for six years and the two of them had been a big part of her life.  
  
She picked up the second gift and unwrapped it. It was another little sculpture. 'Did they get together to pick out gifts?'. The only difference was that this was of three lions. She set it down and reached for the note.  
  
//Hey Mia//  
  
//I just wanted to give you this gift for your birthday. I know its something that you probably no longer want and it will probably be in the garbage the minute you finish reading this but I bought it the same day Ron did and I still thought you should have it. The reason that I got it for you in the first place was I thought it represented what the three of us stood for. I can see that it no longer applies but it did at one point. I know you wont ever speak to us, unless its to fight or we're in class, so I just thought I would say good bye, good luck with the rest of your life and  
Happy Eighteenth Birthday.//  
  
//With best wishes, Harry Potter//  
  
Hermione finished the letter and picked up the little figure. She looked more closely and saw that her name and well as Harry's and Ron's had each been magicked onto each of the lions backs.  
  
She set it beside the photo, again not being able to part with it. She picked up the notes and set them in the drawer of her night stand and laid down on her bed.  
  
She couldn't believe everything that had happened. She had lost her mother and father. She had been beaten several times. She lost her best friends but on the plus side she had gained five new ones. These ones knew every little detail of her life and after two months they were closer than Harry, Ron and her ever had been. She had found out she was adopted and her parents were dead but she still had an uncle. On the other hand the uncle was Snape, the evil of all evils. Or he had been until this year. When she thought about it though he hadn't been as mean to her ever since she had stopped hanging with the 'Wonder Boys'.  
  
She dozed off into a fitful sleep with these thoughts in her head. The final thought, though, was 'I guessed they decided to actually listen and leave me alone this time'  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Short, I know, but it took me forever to come up with an idea that I liked. I think that this went a lot better than the previous Chapter 12 and I think that I can work from here. The next Chapter will be a one week jump though but it will have a slight blurb at the beginning about it. Hope you enjoyed!  
  
Thanks to:  
  
From before original CH12:  
  
Trinity-In-Black- Thanks for the reviews and the idea. I might use it in this one or another one; I'm not positive where I want to take this one yet! I know that they're screwed up and I promise to try and find a way to fix them when I can!  
  
Gabbygirl- I'm glad I have some people who enjoy this enough to return (. I just told you who the Uncle was :P  
  
Lifes-mysteries18- Yes, Draco is the uncle! I intend to make Snape a nicer person, but after Mia gets through this (we all know she will!) he will turn a little more evil again for reasons yet unknown! Thanks for reviewing!  
  
After Original Ch12:  
  
Darker-than-Ebony- I'm glad your liken this story, and I'm glad she dumped the 'assholes' to because frankly I cant stand them and don't trust them farther than I could throw them. You know I was thinks of turning into a Pureblooded Bitch instead.hmmm.nah, I like being nicer and I can get away with making fun of pure bloods this way (lol!  
  
Dracoluber- I'm glad that you love the story so far and am sorry that I had to change the twelfth chapter if you liked it more. I will continue with Ch13 soon!  
  
Lifes-mysteries18- thanks for letting me know when I wasn't at my best. It was after I got your review that I went back and re'read the chapter and realised just how bad this really was. Thanks again! 


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters only the storyline and any of the story that I borrowed I will give them credit in that chapter at the end or the disclaimers in the following chapters. The Uncle thing came from Slytherin Girl when she used it in her story, 'I Wont Walk Away'. Also any Songs I use are not mine! Enjoy and be as honest as possible in reviews without being downright mean.  
  
AN!!!! There will be NO POV's in this chapter.  
  
~*~*~*~*~  
  
Draco watched Hermione slowly lose all interest in everything, He caught her constantly starring out the window, fingering her chain, right in the middle of class.  
  
She even seemed to be pulling away from her friends. It was as if she thought that if she got close they would all disappear or decide she just wasn't worth their time anymore. Draco couldn't blame her though, considering all the people who had done this over the past few months.  
  
Finally, after about 2 weeks, Draco and the others were able to go up to her room and talk to her. Every other time they tried she had hexed them, ran away or stood with her arms crossed and a glare or scowl set on her face.  
  
Draco knew that Snape had told her something while Dumbledore had kept them behind in his office, stressing just how important it was that they stick by her no matter how much she pushed them away.  
  
He also knew that there was something was up with Snape. Mia had been late for his class several times and had lost concentration several times and Snape had yet to yell at her.  
  
At first, he passed it off on that Dumbledore had told the teachers to take it easy on her. But after the first week they all started to go back to treating her normally.  
  
The group went and sat on Hermione's bed and stayed they're for the majority of the day. They didn't talk much just sat with and comforted her. But they noticed that she refused to cry. They looked into her eyes and saw that wall that she had rebuilt the on her birthday.  
  
Finally, she decided that she had had enough. They had told her many times that she had to talk about what was bothering her. They all knew that it wasn't just the adoption, because after the fit she had seemed to take it pretty well. There was something else and they urged time and time again to talk about it. If it wasn't with them, then let her go to the source of the problem and talk.  
  
She got up, off the bed and told them that she would be back soon. She wouldn't say where she was going, just that she was going to talk out the problem with someone.  
  
(AN: To lazy to write out the interview, just imagine it! All I can say is Snape became a little softer and broke down and hugged her at the end)  
  
~*~*~*~*~  
  
The Prefects decided to head back to their common room, but only after leaving Draco with strict instructions to come get them when Hermione came back.  
  
About 5 minutes after they left, Draco received an owl. The owl was midnight black with black eyes. "Demon" Draco greeted his father's owl.  
  
He took the letter, a single shiver running down his spine. There was only ever 2 reasons he received letters from his father.  
1: Lucious was angry with him over something  
or  
2: It had something to do with his fathers work.  
  
He handed Demon a treat and the owl took off again. Obviously his fat her didn't need a reply this time. "God, please this be that he's mad at me" he whispered as he opened the letter.  
  
Draco,  
  
You are not to return this Christmas as there is some business that I have  
to attend to for work. I however wish to talk to you and will be here sometime by the end of January. I have heard a couple rumors about you and I wish to discuss these with you. DO NOT tell anyone about my coming, or there will be consequences to face, you understand? Snape already knows and  
he will get me into the school.  
  
Until then, Lucious Malfoy  
  
Draco breathed a huge sigh of relief. He knew that his father was angry about something but he didn't ask any 'favors' of Draco this time around. He ran to the Prefect common room immediately to tell them that his father was coming in January and that when the end hit, they had to try and act mean and resentful, or they would all be in some sort of danger.He also said that he was pretty sure that there was someone in the school tipping him off about the relationships between all of them.  
  
He turned to Blaise last and told him that he was pretty sure that if his dad knew, then ten to one, Blaise's knew as well. This meaning that he could probably expect to receive a similar letter from his father soon enough.  
  
They decided to walk back to the Head common room just incase Hermione came back. As they neared to portrait, Draco told them one last thing.  
  
"Guys, if it is at all possible, keep this from Mia, she been through enough. Just agree not to tell her anything ok?"  
  
"Not to tell Mia what exactly Draco?" Hermione asked from behind them. She had a small smile on her face but they all watched it fade as she looked Draco in the eye with a glare.  
  
"Nothing, Mia. Nothing at all. We were just discussing your." he looked to the others for help.  
  
"Christmas presents" Padma said from Draco's right.  
  
"Yeah, we wanted to make sure that they were all different" Draco said, a little over enthusiastic.  
  
"Yeah, right. Sure guys, but as I'm in a good mood for the first time in a couple of weeks, I'll let it slide this time. But be warned I will not just let it go completely and I will figure it out" Hermione informed them. "Besides, I need you guys to come with me to Professor Snape's office. Theres something that we need to talk about anyway"  
  
Hermione led the way to the office, a huge smile across her face. When they got there she opened the door and they looked around. Snape was sitting at his desk and appeared to be grading some papers, but he had a huge smile across his face. Something that caught Draco totally and completely off guard.  
  
"Draco, Blaise, Justin, Ginny and Padma I would like you to meet my uncle. Uncle Severus these are my best friends" Hermione said that smile still spread across her face.  
  
Their mouths all dropped and they starred at Snape.  
  
"Sit down, please" Snape gestured to the seats in front of his desk. Hermione took the one next to her uncle behind the desk.  
  
"As you already know, I am Hermione's Uncle, meaning that Hermione is rightfully a Snape. She was born to the name Hermione Nacola Danica Snape. However, you are the only ones that will ever know about this, understand? Her name will stay Granger and no one else is to know that she was adopted. If someone does find out and you know come to me immediately so that we can wipe their memory of it. She will be in great danger if this ever gets to the Dark Lord as he already suspects her of being the long lost Snape, just because of the same first name. She is one of the most intelligent and powerful witches to ever walk the earth and the Dark Lord wants her to help him out. I don't want Hermione to die, as I know that she would refuse him."  
  
They all sat there wide eyed, mouths still open. They were in pure shock, and Hermione was huddled up next to her Uncle. Snape had an arm around her, trying to comfort her. She hadn't been told this yet and Snape had decided it best that she only have to listen to it once.  
  
Blaise and Draco were the first to recover as they had known most of the story already, they just didn't know that Mia, THEIR Mia, was the lost Snape.  
  
"What do you mean, in danger?" Blaise questioned, his eyes narrowing slightly, looking accusingly at Snape. "I mean, I get it, but if you know then surely the Dark Lord good as knows already right?"  
  
"I know that it may seem like he would already know as I'm sure you all know I have to Dark Mark" he rolled up his sleeve just to show them " but what I believe only Hermione knows is that I no longer serve him, but Dumbledore. I am a spy for the light side. However, my life is already in enough danger as it is, so please keep this to yourselves as well"  
  
"Will you be alright Mia?" Draco questioned, a worried look across his expression.  
  
"Yes, I'll be fine" her voice small and not very convincing.  
  
"Professor Snape, I have to inform you of something. I had planned to come and do it later today, but I guess now is as good as time. I don't want to worry you more though Mia, so I want to give you the choice to stay or go. The others already know, but I don't know if you really want more right now"  
  
"If they know, then I want to kow. I don't care what it is"  
  
"Ok, if your sure," he paused and took a deep breath, still not sure if he wanted to tell Hermione right this minute, but he knew that he had to eventually. "Professor, I received something from Lucious today. I know you are aware of my past with him, as I've been coming to you for advice since first year. Good news is, I don't have to go home for Christmas this year, meaning I wont get the traditional 'present'. Bad news, he's coming here, to Hogwarts, at the end of January and for the first time in my life, I'm terrified. I think he knows that I befriended to other houses and that I'm falling for Mia. I'm positive that Blaise's father will also know and that you can expect a visit from him as well" Draco stopped again.  
  
Blaise looked at his friend and saw that mask there again. He knew Draco was scared, only it wasn't for himself this time around. It was for his friends. He continued for Draco, "Professor, Draco and I know what's coming to us. We know that we'll come out of the meeting bruised, but its nothing that we aren't used to. We'll live through it, but we're scared for the other four. We don't know what Lucious and Nikolas will do to them. I think that Justin and Padma are safer, however, then Ginny and Mia. For one, Draco and I love Ginny or Mia, beyond friendship and two, Ginny and Mia are Gryffindors meaning that they are supposed to be our sworn enemies and we aren't supposed to befriends them unless there's a good reason behind it."  
  
Snape sat there rubbing his temples. "As much as I hate to admit this, you guys are right. I was supposed to inform you that your father was coming at the same time as Lucious, Blaise and that you should expect an owl in the next couple of days. I need to think for a while though and figure out a way to get around this. I cant tell Dumbledore because that we'll all be in trouble and God knows we don't need that right now. I promise to come to you with a plan as soon as possible, but in the mean time, just go on as normal and watch out for eachother. Always have someone you trust with you. When the time comes in January, start to act colder towards one another as if you've had a falling out. Take care you guys." He stood up and hugged Hermione and led them out of the office.  
  
The six decided to do the same thing as they had on the night of Mia's birthday and just conjure the three beds in the Head Common room as none of them really wanted to spend the evening apart.  
  
~*~*~*~*~  
  
HORRIBLY BORING?? I totally and completely AGREE!!!! But I promise that it does start to get better again.  
  
Pure Mudblood 


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14 The Father/Son Meeting  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters only the story line and any of the story that I borrowed I will give due credit at that time. The Uncle thing came from Slytherin Girl's 'I Wont Walk Away'. Any songs I use are not mine.  
  
~*~*~*~*~  
  
They followed Snape's advice and just went on with life as normal. Nobody suspected anything about Snape being Hermione' uncle or that Hermione was even adopted in the first place, and they intended to keep it that way.  
  
Hermione and Draco finally went on their first date on December 11. Draco took her to dinner at a fancy place in Hogsmeade and they just spent the entire night talking.  
  
Dumbledore finally approached them about getting either a portrait that connected their common rooms or just getting rid of the two common rooms all together and just giving them one with six rooms attached. The only reason this took place was that they had spent every night since the meeting in Snape's office in the Heads common room, with just the three beds, not wanting to be to far from each other.  
  
Christmas came and went and classes had started up again. Justin, Hermione, Padma, Draco and Blaise continued to hold the top five spots in their year, as did Ginny in hers.  
  
They found that the work was starting to get even heavier though as NEWT's drew nearer. They took the work with amazing grace though, and made sure to help each other and anyone else in their year that were having trouble with something.  
  
Finally, it was nearing the end of January. They had decided to stick with their first idea. They were going to start the whole we hate each other thing tomorrow morning. They decided that the story they would tell would be that Draco and Blaise had been caught talking in the common room about how they were going to sucker the mudbloods (I believe that just is muggle born) and the pathetic excuses for purebloods into believing that they were truly friends. They would say that this whole friendship had been a fake. The other four had supposedly gone in there and a big fight broke out, causing the divide of the six.  
  
The genius that they saw behind this was that they would still have the two sides of the group, so that no one would be without one of the six at any time, except for during classes for Ginny of course. Also they still would remain friends but it would just be under the table. Like in the common room kind of thing. Snape also knew about all this and had gone back to "favoring" the Slytherins, being mean and evil to the Gryffindors and in the middle to the other two houses.  
  
Finally, Blaise and Draco got the signal from Snape that their fathers had arrived. Justin, Ginny, Hermione and Padma wished them good luck and said that they would see them tonight.  
  
Draco noticed when he caught Hermione's eye as they were leaving that the wall was there again. It was like she was afraid that if she let it down again when something like this happened that someone would see a weakness in her.  
  
He wanted to stay and ask her if she was going to be okay and to comfort her. But he knew what his father was like when you were late. He had been taught that "lesson" many times and seeing how his father was already upset with him to some degree, Draco decided that he better not do anything to make it worse.  
  
He and Blaise made their way to the Slytherin common room. When there they said the password, Serpents Lair, and entered, going through a door on the left hand side of the common room that had been made for meetings. The room was about half the size of their common room and there were three men standing in the middle, waiting for them.  
  
Lucious saw his son and an evil grin formed on his face. Just from this Draco knew that there was absolutely no way that he would be getting out of here unharmed. Nikolas had the similar reaction of Lucious when he saw Blaise. A smirk formed across his features and he cracked his knuckles. Blaise knew right then and there that he was in for a major fight tonight and would be lucky if he came out of it conscious. Snape had his old expressionless face back and when the boys looked to him for help he just shook his head slightly, indicating there was nothing that he could do.  
  
'Thank you Severus, I believe that is all that you were required for tonight" Nikolas said waving the teacher out of the room.  
  
Snape, though reluctantly, left the boys with their fathers. He would be back as soon as he was sure that the fathers were long gone and he would help them back to their common room.  
  
As soon as the door closed, a silencing charm was placed on the room. Lucious and Nikolas turned to their sons again.  
  
"Well, how are you two doing this evening?" Lucious asked, the evil grin widening.  
  
"Cut the crap, father" Draco sneered.  
  
"I have no idea what you mean. I only came here to check up on my only son"  
  
"You honestly think I would fall for that? I was raised with you remember. I know what's coming to me tonight, so can we just get it over with and fast, I have a test in Ancient Ruin's tomorrow" Draco said, in a tone that sounded like he was totally and completely bored.  
  
Normally, you would think that he would have been even slightly embarrassed to have one of his best friends standing there next to him when he was about to be beaten to a bloody pulp, but he and Blaise had one through this together several times before.  
  
"What I would like to know is what the hell did we do this time?" Blaise put in, glaring at his father.  
  
"I believe that it's my turn to explain, is it not Lucious?"  
  
"I do believe that it is, Nikolas"  
  
"Thank you, now these are the reasons that have forced us to come here tonight: You befriended muggles and purebloods that we do not approve of You befriended and are dating two Gryffindors, both of who are strongly against the Dark Lord and are very close to Harry Potter.  
  
Excuse me, but for starters, we just had a major fight with them and it isn't very likely that we'll be getting along again soon and they are NOT close to Harry Potter. Obviously, your source isn't overly reliable this year or you would've already known both these things" Blaise interrupted, even though he knew that it would just bring him further trouble.  
  
"Just so you know, we know that that fight was just set up to make us less suspicious. We also know that you still all wear those chains that you gave the mudblood for her birthday, Draco. We also know that they will probably all run back to Potter once they find out that at the end of this year you will receive the Dark Mark and anyone who gets in the way of that will meet an untimely death" Lucious informed Draco and Blaise.  
  
"Wait.since when are we getting the Dark Mark at the end of this year. I have no recollection whatsoever of agreeing to that. In fact I remember distinctly telling you that there was no way in the seven hells that I would ever join you or the Dark Lord" Draco retorted.  
  
"And I remember very distinctly telling you that you could burn in hell along with your lovely master before I ever got the Mark" Blaise told his father with fire in his eyes.  
  
They were both met with a slap across the face. Lucious and Nikolas both saw that this obviously was not enough as the boys were still standing, defiant looks on their faces. They punched them in the stomach, landing enough force to send them to the ground.  
  
"And I do believe that this will change your minds" Nikolas started, landing a kick to Blaise's ribs between each word. "If you don't accept it, you'll find at the end of the year that your little girlfriends show up dead"  
  
The fathers continued beating their sons, never getting a single whimper or yelp of pain. It lasted about an hour and a half, and finally they were satisfied with their work. They left their sons on the floor, both just holding on to consciousness.  
  
Snape came in about five minutes later and levitated the boys out of the room and into the common room. Luckily there was no one in there that hadn't seen this or hadn't gone through to know not to ask any questions. He took them through the portrait leading to Draco's room and took them down to the common room where the others were waiting.  
  
Normally, Snape would've healed them best he could then just let the rest heal naturally or let them heal themselves the rest of the way. However, now that Hermione was around, he knew that he could just take them to her. Healing was one of her many gifts and she could already do spells that not even some full-grown Medi-Witches could do yet.  
  
Although Hermione was extremely shocked to see the state that her friends were in she set right to work, knowing that the next little while would be crucial. First she repaired where Blaise's head had split open and both of the boys had broken noses. She healed the concussions and Draco's broken jaw.  
  
Next, she checked the middle. She found the Blaise had four broken ribs and had broken his right arm in two places and his left in one. Draco had five broken ribs, a punctured lung and his right arm was broken in 3 places. Each had broken their left ankle and they were covered from head to toe with black-and-blue bruises as well as small scratches.  
  
She performed a final spell to make sure she had gotten all injuries and that there hadn't been any hiding. She breathed a small sigh of relief when she found none and then turned to her Uncle and sent him off to get some Dreamless sleep potion so that the boys could each have a restful night.  
  
~*~*~*~*~  
  
When Draco woke the next morning he found that he was in his bed dressed in his pajamas. When he went to move he found that he was extremely stiff and sore. Although he found that his ribs didn't hurt as much as he remembered them hurting last night, they still hurt like hell.  
  
He decided to get up, though, no matter how much his body protested to it. He had gotten up to way worse than this before. When he looked in the mirror, he found that he was totally bruise and scratch-less.  
  
He was very thankful that Dumbledore had insisted on letting he and Hermione have their own bathroom to share, and the prefects got to keep a bathroom to share.  
  
He turned the hot water on full blast and shed his boxers and climbed into the shower. He let the water cascade down his back and felt his muscles start to relax. He started to remember things that Nikolas and Lucious had said to them yesterday.  
  
The most disturbing of all was the fact that they could lose Hermione and Ginny if the refused the Dark Mark. He didn't know what in the hell he was going to do but he knew that there was no way that he would tell Hermione. He and Blaise had come to an agreement that they wouldn't tell the others what had happened to them when they were with their fathers. They would just say that they didn't want to talk about it and truthfully; Draco really didn't want to talk about it.  
  
He washed his hair turned the water off. He reached out of the shower for a towel. He wrapped the towel around his waist and walked back to his room. When he looked at his clock he saw that it was only 6:30am and that he had a while before breakfast.  
  
He grabbed a book from his nightstand and headed down the stairs. He was surprised to see that everyone else was already up and talking downstairs. No one even noticed him coming down the stairs.  
  
"Hey, aren't you missing someone?" he asked, a stupid grin on his face. "I do believe that there are six in this friendship and I can only see five on the couch, so what.did you kick me out or something? I mean if you didn't like me anymore all you had to do was say." But he was cut off by Hermione's lips.  
  
"Well, I guessed you missed me" Draco grinned. "May I ask how long you've all been up?" he questioned, as he and Hermione walked over to one of the couches and sat down, Hermione refusing to let go of him.  
  
"Well, Padma, Mia, Ginny and I have been up since about five and Blaise came down like 3 minutes before you did" Justin told him.  
  
"How are you feeling today, man?" Blaise inquired.  
  
"Woken up worse, what about you?"  
  
"Same, what exactly did you guys do to us last night? I mean the only thing I woke with this morning was sore muscles and my ribs were slightly sore, and I know for a fact that I had several broken bones. I also know that Snape couldn't heal all that because he's tried before but it's never worked"  
  
"Well, WE didn't do anything and I can assure Snape didn't do anything but Mia on the other hand, well.lets just say that its thanks to her that your able to walk at all today" Ginny filled them in.  
  
"Since when does Mia heal, exactly? Last time I checked she didn't know a whole lot about it" Draco raised an eyebrow.  
  
Hermione blushed. "Not only can she heal, but she knows spells that not even full-grown, fully trained Medi-Witches know. I mean she had you guys fully healed in like 45 minutes, where as if you had been healed by Snape or Pomfrey it probably would've taken all night" Padma said, causing Hermione's blush to deepen.  
  
"Come on guys, that's not true and you know it. I'm not that good and I'm positive that at least Pomfrey knows the spells I do," she told them modestly. They weren't used to this side of Hermione that was for sure. They were used to the one that said she was better, if she was and basically spoke the all out truth no matter what that may be.  
  
"Then why did it take you exactly 2 minutes to heal all three breaks in Draco's arm in like 3 minutes, while it takes Pomfrey like ten. Also, I know for a fact that she uses a completely different spell as I have broken my arm like that more than once" Justin informed them.  
  
"Anyway, now that we all know that I can heal and seeing as it's like 6:45 AM and I don't feeling like arguing that point, how did last night go for you guys? Well obviously we know how it went but as far as talking went what did they have to say? What was the whole point of them coming?"  
  
"Ummmm.." Blaise looked at Draco for help, not knowing how much he should tell them  
  
"Well, it was basically what we thought. We got lectured for befriending muggle-borns and, as they put, poor excuses for purebloods, then we got in trouble for daring to date Gryffindors and than we got defiant, told that they could go to heel, and then they punched us in the gut and.well, you saw the result of the next about two hours," Draco finished off, while pulling Hermione closer to him. He had never been more grateful for anything his father had taught him. He had been taught from a young age that you had to hide all emotions and how to lie without changing a single facial expression.  
  
The girls seemed to bite and when he looked at Blaise, he saw the same resolve in his features. He had been raised the same as Draco and been taught the same lessons the same way. However, when he looked at Justin, he saw that his friends seemed to not take the bait. It looked like he knew that there was more to the story but decided to just leave it alone.for now anyway.  
  
They steered away from that topic, deciding that it would be better to leave it in the past for now and let the two boys just have a relaxing morning. They all left for breakfast together, deciding that they didn't want to hide the friendship that they shared.  
  
Each of the guys had their arms around the waist of their girl, as if protecting them. Justin wasn't positive why he felt Padma needed protecting, but he knew that it had something to do with Blaise and Draco's meeting with their fathers last night.  
  
They walked into the Great hall together and went to the Hufflepuff Table as they had finally come up with a system on how to decide where to sit everyday. They sat at one on Sunday, than worked their way down the tables than went back to the first after they were done and so on. Thus, there was no more morning fight over where to sit and it all worked out even in the end.  
  
Little did they know that they were under the very watchful eye of someone. The eye that could determine each of their futures.  
  
~*~*~*~*~  
  
Was this better that Chapter 13?? Please let me know  
  
Thanks to: Beyond-Artemis, wackofromva and ElenSileLumenn for the great reviews. 


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15  
  
Disclaimer: I own nothing except for the plot line. The songs are not mine. The Uncle Snape thing came from Slytherin Girl's "I Wont Walk Away" and I did get permission to use it.  
  
Warning: Not as good as earlier chapters but better than 13, which isn't saying much. I promise that the rest is way better as I already have most of if finished, and I will post a chapter a day if I can.  
  
~*~*~*~*~  
  
Dumbledore seemed to be doling out more duties for the Prefects and Heads by the day. Not only did they have to patrol at night and plan all dances and events, they now also had to patrol in the morning before breakfast and make sure that everything was in full stock in all the classes (this would normally be done by the staff, but seeing as there's an inevitable war, they dumped all this onto the six). They also had to study endlessly in all the time that wasn't taken up by duties or tutoring groups that they'd promised to run.  
  
With all this happening Draco and Blaise were able to push everything about the night with the fathers into the deepest corners of their mind. Well, all that is, except for that their best friends were in danger of losing their lives if the refused the Dark Mark.  
  
They had told all this to Justin when he had questioned them that night, but made him promise to keep it between the three of them until they knew that it was safe to tell the girls everything.  
  
They knew that there was someone still watching them. They could feel it. Mostly when they were with other students, but they could feel the hair on the back of their necks stand up when they'd be walking down a dark corridor at night or when they were heading somewhere alone.  
  
Between the three boys they had narrowed it down to a seventh year, who was jealous of them for some reason and had to be in the advanced classes. So minus them, that left about twelve others that it could be. They were able to eliminate the Hufflepuffs and most of the Gryffindors but that was it. Leaving the number still at eight.  
  
Time was running out. Fast. And they knew it too. They had exactly one hundred and ten days to figure this out. They graduated on June 5 and the initiation was to take place on June 6. Through this they had to make sure to pass the tests with straight O's as well, or there would be more trouble.  
  
Truthfully, Draco had never been more terrified in his entire life. He had gotten used to the treatment his father gave him but he didn't know if he could live without Hermione. He loved her more the life itself and he was pretty sure that went both ways.  
  
Blaise, Draco and Justin thanked the Gods for the girl ignorance. As far as they knew, the guys had just become slightly more protective, and they weren't complaining. However, they found it quite odd the, Hermione, smartest witch in the school, who had gone on so many adventures with Potter and Weasley and who had basically been the master mind behind most, hadn't figured out something was up. They were sure that she would've noticed that they had been acting a little weirder by now, but were thankful that she hadn't.  
  
Little did they know, she knew that there was something up. That the boys were hiding something. She just decided that until she knew what was up, she would continue playing dumb with Ginny and Padma, who had no clue whatsoever.  
  
So, basically this was how they're life was for the next month. They studied, slept, did their duties and ate. Somewhere in here they also managed to fit in dates and trips to Hogsmeade to blow off steam. Draco and Blaise were now receiving about a letter a week telling them what to get ready for or threatening them or stating word for word things that had happened when the six thought they were alone.  
  
There were more and more secrets between the six, yet they never seemed to grow apart. Teachers had finally quit trying to pull them apart in class and seat them with others and the students finally were used to seeing students from all four houses sitting at one table.  
  
Hermione became extremely close to her uncle and they spent many evenings talking, when either had the time to spare. Usually if someone walked in they would think that Hermione was just helping hi grade papers, but people usually tended to avoid Snape's office at all cost after classes, unless they had a detention.  
  
Finally, Hermione had had enough of the guys sneaking around and their constant refusal to tell them what was going on. They always avoided the topic of the evening of Lucious and Nikolas' visit, no matter what it took. Ginny and Padma just passed it off as it was to uncomfortable for Draco and Blaise to relive it but again, Hermione knew better. She could see the look in their eyes that was always there when they were lying.  
  
She approached them one evening when Ginny and Padma were out doing their rounds. She knew that they would be awhile, because every time they went out together you could count on the fact that it would take at least an hour longer than usual to do rounds.  
  
Blaise knew immediately that there was something up with her when she approached them. She had her old emotionless mask on again.  
  
"What the hell is up you guys?" she demanded.  
  
"What do you mean?" Justin asked through slightly narrowed eyes.  
  
"You know what I mean. There's something going on between the three of you and I know that it involves us girls but yet you seen to be totally content with keeping it from us. And if you ever thought for one moment that I didn't know there was something up, you got another thing coming"  
  
"Damn, I told you guys she would figure it out" Draco hissed to the other two.  
  
"How much do you know?" Blaise questioned, slightly worried about the answer.  
  
"Not much, but even if you don't tell me, you know that I'll figure it out. I mean look at the two people I had as best friends for the first six years here. I know how to get information and I'm determined to figure this out no matter what it takes"  
  
The three looked visibly relieved. So she hadn't figured it out, they just had to make sure that they were able to lie smoothly enough to get her to stay away until they figured out how to get around the whole thing. Sure, it would have been easier to just tell her right now, but they didn't want to, not yet. They wanted to know how to get around it and they didn't want her involved, not until they knew she would be safe.  
  
"Well, if we told you now, it wouldn't be a surprise would it?" Blaise started the lie, gesturing to Draco as if to pass it off to him.  
  
"Also, we can't have you telling Ginny and Padma the plans for Grad, now can we?" Draco continued, leaving the last part to Justin.  
  
"We have a special evening planned for you three and well, we can't have you spoiling it, now can we?? We need to fine-tune it some more and I promise you that you will love it, Mia ok? But you have to promise right now that you will not try to figure this out, ok?"  
  
"Fine" Hermione huffed, "but if you do anything else remotely weird, or weirder than usual I guess, I will have this figured out so fast, it wont even be funny. You got it? Also, I totally don't believe your story, but you three seem like your going to stick to it, but it better not be endangering any of your lives, alright?"  
  
"K, Mia. We promise" Draco told her. As he went up to hug her.  
  
And so it continued over the next few months. They lives were chaotic with exams, duties and grad. Each couple grew increasingly closer and the boys finally came up with a plan. They were still under the watchful eye of someone, but they still didn't know who. Letters kept coming and they finally just stopped opening them. Finally it was the day of their Grad. The day that would make or break each and every student and most of all make or break the futures of six individuals.  
  
~*~*~*~*~  
  
PLEASE READ AT LEAST FIRST PART OF AUTHORS NOTE!!  
  
This okay?? I know that this is a Draco/Hermione romance and the end I can guarantee you is but I want to speed this up so I can finish it before school. Also, I totally suck at writing romance, so sue me (not literally) and forgive me please. And there should only be one, maybe two more chapters to this, quick ending? Yes, but if I get enough reviews I have an idea for a sequel and there might just be one.  
  
Reason for the speeding up, I already know the end of it and how I want to put it but do you think I can make the story stretch out so that it doesn't come so fast.NO, not happening, I'm just not that kind of person. I want to finish this and soon so I can have the wonderful outcome (not your usual HG/DM outcome though), basically come faster. So, Sorry for any inconvenience that I'm causing. 


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16  
  
Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plotline. Songs do not belong to me and Uncle Snape is borrowed from Slytherin Girl who I got permission from to use it.  
  
~*~*~*~*~  
  
"Oh my god!" Hermione was totally awestruck by the fact that, this was it. There final day at Hogwarts, ever. They had the dance for Grad this morning and they would get a special ceremony first thing in the morning for awards, speeches, etc.  
  
"I know what you mean. I mean I can't believe it, and I still can't believe that when we took our practice NEWT's, Dumbledore gave me the real ones for doing so well. I get to graduate with you guys," Ginny said, he eyes glistening with tears.  
  
(A/N: I know highly unlikely but I didn't have it in my heart to make her spend an entire year without her best friends)  
  
"I know. I mean, this is it. We all leave tomorrow morning and it'll be so weird knowing that we aren't coming back" Padma agreed.  
  
The three girls were up in Hermione's room getting ready for the Grad. Hermione was even letting them do her hair and make-up out of her own free will. She had never been this excited.  
  
They talked and did their hair, make-up, etc.all day. They hadn't seen the boys since breakfast that morning, when they had told them to be ready by 4:30, because they had something planned.  
  
Dumbledore had allowed a special trip to Diagon Alley and Muggle London so that people could choose what they wanted to wear.  
  
After much looking Hermione finally found what she was looking for. It was a black, strapless dress that hugged every curve and flowed from the waist to the ankles. Padma and Ginny put her hair in simple ringlets covered in sparkles and silver eye shadow with jet black eye liner. That was it. Nothing else. But she looked stunning nonetheless.  
  
Ginny was in a pale blue spaghetti-strap dress. Her eyes shone baby blue and she had a glowing smile to match it. She had on light lavender eye shadow with a bit of blue mixed in and silver eyeliner on the top lid.  
  
Padma had on a very pale yellow dress with gold threads woven in. It was sleeveless and flowed around her ankles. She had brushed a light layer of gold eye shadow and sparkles over her cheeks. They were finally ready and for the first time ever, they were ready early. They still had half an hour before the boys were supposed to pick them up from Hermione's room.  
  
~*~*~*~In Blaise's room~*~*~*~  
  
They had been ready for over two hours and were now discussing what they were going to do that evening.  
  
"So the plans set then? I'm going to join you correct?" Justin finalized.  
  
"Yeah, but remember DO NOT let on that there's anything going on until after the final dance this evening, ok?" Draco reminded them.  
  
"We know, we know" Blaise replied, but looked a million miles away.  
  
"Come on, it's time to get the girls so we can take them out" Justin told them, already getting up off the bed.  
  
When the girls opened the door, Draco was blown away. Here was the girl he loved more than anything on earth, who he would do anything for and for the first time ever, he was speechless.  
  
She was.stunning, for lack of a better word. He had forgotten that she could look so pretty, he had gotten so used to her normal attire.  
  
"You look.Wow" Draco stumbled over his words.  
  
"Thanks" Hermione had a smile plastered across her features, a rare occurrence, no matter what was going on. "You don't look half bad yourself you know" she smirked.  
  
"I know," he answered before capturing her in a kiss.  
  
When they finally broke apart, Draco held out his hand to her.  
  
"May I be your escort, milady?" a twinkle in his eye,  
  
"You may"  
  
Blaise, Justin and Draco each led their date into the common room. Blaise picked up a small book off the table.  
  
"Please, lay one hand on the book and you shall find yourself in the most magnificent dining establishment in the area" he said formally.  
  
Each laid a hand on it and the next thing they knew they where standing in a completely disserted restaurant.  
  
"Did I not mention that we get it to ourselves?"  
  
They took the three tables in the middle of the restaurant and a waiter appeared out of nowhere, collected their orders and left.  
  
They were there until about 6:30, when Dumbledore had set up the next Port key for. They landed back in their Common Room and headed straight for the Great Hall. There had been a huge dinner there, but being that they were the top students, Dumbledore had given them permission to leave as long as they were back in time for the first dance.  
  
The doors opened for them and every one in the hall was standing there waiting for them. They were all gathered around the dance floor and were now facing them.  
  
They made their way to the dance floor and as soon as they were ready, a song came on.  
  
~*~*~  
  
Never thought it would be me,  
Living in a shattered dream.  
Could this be the end for me?  
What I wouldn't give to have  
A life to live, a day to plan  
Instead I'll be forever seventeen  
Could have lived out every dream  
I could have been most anything  
  
Can some one wake me up?  
I haven't lived yet  
I'm only seventeen  
God did you forget  
I'm just a baby?  
And I don't want to be  
Forever seventeen  
  
I'll never have a bed to make  
A test to take, a summer day  
I'll be always be forever seventeen  
I could have had a family  
If things had worked out differently  
Instead I'll be forever seventeen  
Could I have just one more day?  
A chance to learn from my mistakes?  
  
Can someone wake me up?  
I haven't lived yet  
I'm only seventeen  
God did you forget  
I'm just a baby?  
And I don't want to be  
Forever seventeen  
  
In the matter of a moment  
Life fell before my eyes  
And now I'm looking at the meaning of  
The miracle of life  
Where are we going without even knowing?  
The answer is deep in side  
  
.Forever Seventeen.  
  
So don't give up.  
You have lived yet.  
Your only seventeen.  
And God did not forget  
Your just a baby.  
~*~*~  
  
Draco hugged Hermione close one last time before letting her go. He went over and got a drink and when he glanced up he saw Harry and Ron looking at Hermione while she stood to the side with the others.  
  
He could tell by the looks in their eyes that it was killing them to see her having a good time with someone other then them but yet they were glad to see her so happy. He knew that they longed to go and talk to her but they had made a promise to let her make the first move towards a renewed friendship and they intended to stick by it.  
  
He turned his eyes to the girl he had brought with him tonight. He could see the difference in her in an instance. She was glowing and she had never looked so happy in all the years that he had known her. He gave her immense credit for coming out on the other side of this year without barely a scratch on her.  
  
He loved her and there was no other way to describe the way he felt. He also knew that there was no other way to explain what he, Blaise and Justin were going to do. He headed back over to Hermione and handed her her drink.  
  
He could feel someone's eyes on him and knew that it was the spy but at this moment he couldn't careless. He just wanted to treasure this carefree moment with his best friends and the love of his life.  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
What are the guys planning to do?? I want no comments if you know me personally and I have already told you the ending!  
  
Here's all the thanks from the last few chapters: j4d1718, mara, kat, Rebel Rikki, Blade McKay, and GemGemJoo 


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17  
  
Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot line. Songs are not mine. Uncle Snape came from Slytherin Girl and I have permission to use it.  
  
~*~*~*~*~  
  
It was the final dance. Justin, Blaise and Draco all knew what they had to do when this was over. And they wanted to savor every single moment with their girls before then, for they had no idea what would happen after what needed to be done was done.  
  
Draco led Hermione out to the floor. He wrapped his arms around her waist and held her close to himself.  
  
~*~*~  
  
Silence and quiet,  
Again in my life,  
Far from these moments  
I wish I was  
  
Passion and truth  
We were about  
Before the shadows  
Stole the beat of our hearts  
  
~*~*~  
  
He breathed in as deeply as he could. She smelt out cocunut and light vanilla.  
  
~*~*~  
  
After all we have been through  
I can only look at you  
Through the eyes you lied to  
I'm givin' up, givin up  
I'm givin' up on you  
After all there is n0o way out  
If you cannot stand beside me  
If there isn't love  
There is only pride  
I'm givin' up, I'm givin up this fight  
  
~*~*~  
  
Draco loved this girl he was holding and he didn't know what the hell was ever gonna happen to him after this night.  
  
~*~*~  
  
Undo this leash  
You say tied  
When only our hearts are to blame  
This time  
And what am I to you  
Just spit it out  
I'm not afraid of the words that  
You hide  
  
After all we have been through  
I can only look at you  
Through the eyes you lied to  
I'm givin' up, givin' up  
I'm givin' up on you  
After all there is no way out  
If you cannot stand beside me  
If there isn't love  
There is only pride  
I'm givin' up, I'm givin up this fight  
  
~*~*~  
  
There was something there, and he knew it. He knew that there was something between them that very few had. They had pure love and hadn't had a fight since they started going out. They had found love in school and he knew that the dision he had made was highly likely to ruin it forever.  
  
~*~*~  
  
Where do we go  
Where did it crash  
When did it start to fall apart  
  
Silence and quiet.  
Passion, the truth.  
Shadows, only shadows.  
  
After all we have been through,  
I can only look at you,  
Through the eyes you lied to  
I'm givin up, givin up  
I'm givin up on you  
After all there is no way out,  
If you cannot stand beside me  
If there isn't love  
There is only pride  
I'm givin up this time,  
Givin up, givin up this fight  
Givin up  
Givin up  
I'm givin up this fight,  
Givin up, givin up tonight  
  
~*~*~  
  
He placed a light kiss on the top of her head before letting her go and leaving the hall with her. He looked over his shoulder to see Blaise and Justin do the same.  
  
He led Hermione into one of Hogwarts many gardens and they sat down on a bench. Before a word was said he captured her lips in a kiss, and pulled her into a huge hug after.  
  
"Mia, you know I love you no matter what, right?" he looked straight into her eyes.  
  
"Yes, and I you" her voice rang with sincerity.  
  
"And I will love you forever and always, if we're together or apart?"  
  
She just nodded this time. "Mia, promise me that you will forever where the chain and ring, no matter where you or we are"  
  
"I promise I will Draco, and I want yo to promise the same thing"  
  
"I will, Mia. I will never remove it, not even in death"  
  
"Mia, I have to tell you something"  
  
"What is it, Draco?" Hermione questioned, her eys slightly worried.  
  
~*~*~  
  
There's a lot of things I understand and theres a lot that I don't want to know but you're the only face I recognize its so damn sweet of you to look me in the eys  
  
It's alright, I'm OK I think God can explain I believe I'm the same I get carried away Its alright, I'm ok I think God can explain I'm relieved I'm relaxed I'll get over it in the end  
  
~*~*~  
  
"Mia, Blaise and I never told the whole truth to you or the other girls. Justin knows, but I gather that you already knew that"  
  
"Yes, I knew that much already"  
  
"Mia, your gonna hate me in a minute but remember the promise you made me ok?"  
  
"Ok Draco, now what am I gonna hate you for exactly?"  
  
"You have to hear me out completely before you flip, m'k?"  
  
She nodded again. "I have to end it between us Mia" he told her.  
  
~*~*~  
  
The scent of Vaseline in the summertime The feel of an ice cube melting over time The world seems bigger than the both of us Yet it seems so small when I begin to cry  
  
It's alright, I'm ok I think God can explain I believe I'm the same I get carried away It's alright, I'm ok I think God can explain I'm relieved, I'm relaxed I'll get over it in the end  
  
I'm so much better than you guessed. I'm so much bigger than you guessed. I'm so much brighter than you guessed.  
  
~*~*~  
  
"What the hell do you mean you have to end it between us?" she snapped.  
  
"You promised to hear me out, Mia"  
  
"Then I want an explaination, NOW" Hermione's eyes had gone to her ice cold gaze again. He could see that wall building again.  
  
"Well, I have to leave you to join my father. If I don't I will lose you, Ginny and Padma and I couldn't handle that. I will receive the Dark Mark tomorrow evening and I will no longer be able to contact you. I don't ever want a letter from you or any form of contact whatsoever for that could put you in great danger. Promise that you'll stay away from me."  
  
"Blaise, Justin and I are all getting intiated. We will do whatever it takes to keep you three alive, even if it means selling our souls to Satan himself, we will do it. I will love you forever but I cant be with you anymore. I can't let my love be known. I know that you would never join my side and I would never ask you too. Don't worry, your Uncle's going to be safe, as will anyone else close to you."  
  
"You wont be Draco and you know it! But know this Malfoy, if you would have told me I would have done anything it took to help you. Even if it meant selling my soul to. I wish you a good life in your hell, Malfoy!"  
  
~*~*~  
  
It's alright, I'm ok I think God can explain, I believe I'm the same I get carried away I think God can explain I'm relieve, I'm relaxed I'll get off of your back  
  
I think God can can Explain, I think God can explain I think God can explain  
  
~*~*~  
  
With that she got up off the bench and walked way, not shedding a single tear. All she did was build the wall as high as it would go and made a promise to never let it fall again. All letting it down did was set yourself up for hurt and she didn't want the hurt to ever hit er again.  
  
As Draco watched her walk away, from him, from his life, forever, a single tear rolled down his cheek, a rough path getting carved in his milky skin. It seemed as if lights were dimming and a tunnel had formed around him, and Hermione was the only thing visible.  
  
She glanced back at him one last, her gaze cold and heartless, and it felt like his already bruised and bleeding heart had been ripped in two, never to be repaired. In a single moment, he watched her close the door and disappear from his life for what he believes is the last time, ever.  
  
~*~*~*~*~  
  
SOOOOO?? What did you think? I left the end hanging, making it possible for a sequel!!  
  
Hope you enjoyed the story and thanks to anyone who has reviewed or is to review in the future, you were great inspiration and helped me to write this story! Also I just want to thank Rebel-yell, who helped me come up with the final to paragraphs of my story!  
  
Love you all and I hope you enjoys,  
  
L&H, Pure Mudblood 


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